EMCC Lady Lions complete regular-season softball sweep of Hinds with pair of road victories in Raymond

RAYMOND – For the second time in less than two weeks, the East Mississippi Community College softball team swept Hinds Community College in doubleheader action.  This time on the road, the Lady Lions totaled 23 hits on the day along with getting a pair of complete-game pitching efforts to sweep Hinds, 12-2 and 7-3, Tuesday afternoon in MACJC inter-divisional play.

Back on Feb. 8 in Scooba, East Mississippi opened its home softball slate by sweeping the Lady Eagles, 8-1 and 4-2.

During Tuesday's opener in Raymond, the Lady Lions struck early with a pair of runs in the first inning.  EMCC's bats really came alive in the third with a five-run inning bolstered by a grand slam from sophomore Jade Albritton.  In addition to blasting her second home run of the year and fourth of her EMCC career, the former Wayne County High School standout also added a double and a single with the four runs batted in and two runs scored in game one.

The visitors tacked on another five runs in the seventh inning to cruise to the 12-2 win in the opener.  Along with Albritton's 3-for-3 effort at the plate, fellow sophomore outfielder Corey Dawkins, of Brooksville, enjoyed a 3-for-5 outing with three runs scored, two RBIs and a pair of stolen bases.  Freshman middle-infielder Kristen Mitchell, a Clarkdale product, and winning pitcher Taylor Hackney each added a pair of hits to contribute to EMCC's 13-hit attack.

In the circle, Hackney evened her pitching record to 2-2 on the season by allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out six and walking five in seven innings of work.  The former Bayou Academy standout improved her EMCC career mark to 6-2 with the complete-game victory.

In the nightcap, the Lady Lions broke open a tight 3-2 contest with a four-run fifth inning.  Following a run-scoring single by winning pitcher Halie Green and a bases-loaded walk to Mitchell, Dawkins stroked a clutch two-run double to increase the lead to 7-2.  The home-standing Lady Eagles managed a solo tally for the third straight inning in the bottom of the fifth to account for the final margin.

Offensively during the nightcap, freshmen Beth Hull and Kasey Stanfield keyed EMCC's 10-hit team effort with two hits apiece.  Hull, from Kemper Academy, clubbed her first collegiate home run in the fourth inning, while Stanfield, a New Hope High School product, also went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

Green, a sophomore right-hander, improved her pitching record to 3-2 on the year with her ninth career collegiate victory.  The Louisiana native scattered seven hits and three runs while fanning six and not issuing a walk to collect the complete-game win.     

Coach Kyndall White's 6-5 EMCC Lady Lions will conclude their current stretch of 10 consecutive games played away from home by heading to Tuscaloosa to participate in Friday's round-robin tournament hosted by Shelton State Community College.  East Mississippi is slated to take on Central Alabama Community College (11 a.m.), West Georgia Technical College (1 p.m.) and Southern Union State CC (3 p.m.) during Friday's tournament play, before returning home to play host to preseason eighth-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College the next day on the Scooba campus.  Saturday's doubleheader action is set for a noon first pitch at the EMCC Softball Field.