Preseason No. 2 East Central registers 9-0, 9-1 run-rule home sweep over rival EMCC

DECATUR – The visiting East Mississippi Community College softball team was limited to five total hits along with committing 10 errors in the field en route to dropping a pair of run-rule decisions (9-0, 9-1) to preseason second-ranked East Central Community College Saturday afternoon on the ECCC campus.

In the opening contest, ECCC's Lacey Hill worked out of a first-inning jam to strand runners on second and third after walking West Lauderdale product Mallory Vance to begin the game and later hitting Emily Patrick with a pitch.

The reigning NJCAA national runners-up then scored eight unearned runs off starter Zoie LaVergne and reliever Jordan Self in the bottom half of the opening frame with the aid of four EMCC errors.  Big hits for the Lady Warriors in the first included a two-run triple by Elizabeth Frey and a run-scoring double by Summer Lavender.

That was all the offense Hill needed as she faced the minimum nine batters through the middle three innings.  The only hit she allowed over the five innings was a one-out single by Clarkdale High School's Molly McLeod in the fifth.  The Southeastern Louisiana University signee struck out six and walked only one to pick up the shutout victory.

East Central again struck early in the nightcap on a two-run homer by Lavender off EMCC starting pitcher Ciara Steward.  But, the Lions' freshman left-hander was able to minimize the first-inning damage to just the two runs by getting out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam.

Mistakes defensively again proved costly for the visitors the following frame as a pair of dropped fly balls in the outfield let in two more ECCC runs on the heels of Mahalia Gibson's three-run homer off Steward.

The Lady Warriors extended their lead to 9-0 in the third with a pair of two-out tallies off EMCC reliever Chandler Ellis.  Andi Hannaford had an RBI single in the frame, while courtesy runner Abby Winstead then moved to second on Katlyn Duke's double and later scored on a wild pitch.

EMCC's only back-to-back hits on the afternoon came in the fourth inning.  After being stranded at second following a lead-off double two innings prior, sophomore third baseman Marissa Landrum singled in front of Kendall Wilkinson's triple that landed on the right-field foul line to account for the Lions' lone score of the day.

East Central's Chloe Thaggard picked up the complete-game victory in the nightcap.  The Leake Academy product fanned six and walked only one in her five innings of work.  The Lady Warriors improved to 8-0 on the year with Saturday's sweep.

Coach Kyndall White's 3-3 EMCC Lions will participate in next weekend's (Feb. 19-20) Rush Invitational hosted by Meridian Community College at Northeast Park.  East Mississippi will take on the host MCC Lady Eagles and Shelton State CC in back-to-back Friday games at 3 and 5 p.m., respectively.  On Saturday, the Lions will face preseason fourth-ranked Chipola College (Fla.) at 9 a.m. before capping the two-day tournament against Copiah-Lincoln CC at 3 p.m.