Back-to-back homers help EMCC Lady Lions earn softball doubleheader split at Marion Military Institute

MARION, Ala. – The Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College gained a softball doubleheader split at Marion Military Institute Wednesday afternoon, earning a 5-2 nightcap victory after dropping a 7-1 decision in the opening contest.

Rebounding in the second game to claim their first doubleheader split of the softball season, the Lady Lions took an early 1-0 lead in the nightcap on Halie Green's two-out RBI single up the middle.  EMCC used the long ball to extend the margin the next frame.  Amber Spann and Taylor Hackney opened the fourth inning with back-to-back home runs off MMI starter Kalynn Allen to make it 3-0.

With the home-standing Lady Tigers scratching out solo tallies in the fifth and sixth innings, EMCC maintained the three-run margin by adding two insurance runs in the top half of the sixth.  Hackney and Haley Tutor highlighted the inning for the visitors with their second hits of the game and third of the afternoon.

Sophomore right-hander Amelia LaVergne was effective in the circle once again for the Lady Lions, scattering eight hits in the complete-game victory to improve to 3-2 on the season.  The Rayne, La., native struck out five and did not issue a walk while giving up the pair of unearned runs.

With nine hits as a team in the nightcap, Green joined teammates Hackney and Tutor with a two-hit effort of her own.

Marion Military grabbed the early 3-0 advantage in the opening contest on Ashley Strength's three-run home run off EMCC starter Kendra Wilson in the third inning.  The visitors got a run back in the fourth when Misty Richard's double scored Spann, who reached base via the hit by pitch.

That's the only offense the Lady Lions could muster in the first game, as defensive miscues and control problems by EMCC pitchers led to one run in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth for Marion Military.

Coach Kyndall White's 7-9 EMCC Lady Lions begin their MACJC North Division regular-season slate on the road Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead.  EMCC then plays host to the Lady Tigers of Coahoma Community College the following Saturday (March 16) in a noon twin bill on the Scooba campus.