Costly infield errors loom large in EMCC’s home softball doubleheader sweep at the hands of Copiah-Lincoln
A handful of infield errors proved costly Thursday on the Scooba campus, as the East Mississippi Community College softball team was swept, 10-0 and 6-3, by visiting Copiah-Lincoln Community College at the EMCC Softball Field.
SCOOBA – A handful of infield errors proved costly Thursday on the Scooba campus, as the East Mississippi Community College softball team was swept, 10-0 and 6-3, by visiting Copiah-Lincoln Community College at the EMCC Softball Field.
In the opener, Co-Lin built on an early 1-0 lead by scoring five unearned runs in the second inning off EMCC starting pitcher Halie Green (3-5). A lead-off triple by Bradi Davis and a one-out fielding error at third base opened the door for the visitors to bat around en route to the five-run frame. With the inning also prolonged by a pair of walks and a hit batsman, the big blow was Missy Romero's two-out, bases-clearing double to left field that made it 6-0.
Things got worse for the home team two innings later when two more misplayed balls in the middle of the infield, combined with three Co-Lin singles, plated four more unearned runs in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Co-Lin freshman right-hander Brooke Gonzales held the Lady Lions hitless through four innings while facing the minimum 12 batters. Following a lead-off single by Meri Morgan Fortune, EMCC managed to load the bases in the fifth before Alex Smith's line drive was snared at short for the third out of the 10-0, run-ruled setback.
The Lady Wolves took another early 1-0 lead in the nightcap, before EMCC tallied two-out solo runs in the first and second innings to go on top 2-1. In the first, lead-off hitter Haley Tutor walked and stole second before coming around to score on Abby Roberts' misplayed pop-up double to left field. The next frame, Charly Boswell's lead-off single preceded a two-out single by Tutor and Corey Dawkins' ensuing run-scoring base hit.
Taking advantage of extra-base, lead-off hits, the two teams exchanged solo runs in the fifth inning. In the top half, Davis' second triple of the day was followed by Jaylee Fernandez's RBI single. The Lady Lions quickly reclaimed their one-run lead at 3-2 in the home half of the inning. Dawkins' lead-off double preceded walks to Jade Albritton and Amber Spann to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Taylor Hackney plated Dawkins with a line drive sacrifice fly to center field. Boswell's sharply hit liner to short then ended the threat.
With sophomore starter Amelia LaVergne (5-3) in the circle, EMCC's infield defensive play then faltered behind her late in game two. Following a one-out double by Romero, two more hits were sandwiched between a pair of costly fielding errors to open the door for a game-deciding, four-run sixth inning by the Lady Wolves.
The Lady Lions were able to mount a two-out rally in the seventh by getting a pair of runners on base, but Gonzales, Co-Lin's game one winner, was brought in to get Sarah Dudley swinging and nail down the doubleheader sweep by the visitors.
Out-hitting Co-Lin, 9-7, in the second game, EMCC was led offensively by Dawkins and Roberts with two hits apiece.
Coach Kyndall White's EMCC Lady Lions are now 12-12 overall on the year and co-leaders in the MACJC's North Division standings with a 5-1 division mark. With Saturday's scheduled division doubleheader at Northwest Mississippi Community College postponed until next Thursday (March 28), EMCC will now have three twin bills in three days next week. The Lady Lions are slated to play host to Holmes Community College Wednesday in Scooba (3 p.m.) before playing at Northwest on Thursday (noon) and at East Central on Friday (3 p.m.).