EMCC Lions move to .500 with home softball sweep over Missouri-based Moberly Area CC

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College softball team reached the .500 mark on the season by sweeping Moberly Area Community College, 7-3 and 12-8, during Tuesday's non-conference action played at the EMCC Softball Field.

Improving to 3-3 on the year, EMCC trailed the visiting Greyhounds from Missouri early in both contests but used consecutive multi-run middle innings to lock down the pair of four-run victories.

In the opening game, twin sisters Karen and Gail Wisher helped stake the Lions to an early 2-0 lead with two-out, back-to-back doubles in the third inning. The following inning, Moberly Area took advantage of a leadoff walk and a pair of EMCC throwing errors on the same play to move ahead by a run.

The Lions recovered nicely to reclaim the lead for good by manufacturing three runs in the fourth frame and adding two more tallies the following inning.

In the circle for EMCC, Gail Wisher struck out nine and allowed just one earned run in six innings of work to pick up her second win of the young season. With the bat, the versatile two-way standout added a run-scoring bunt single and was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in three runs in the opener.

During the nightcap, the home-standing Lions were down, 3-0 and 7-3, as they bounced back with four consecutive multi-run innings to finish off the win and secure the sweep. After the visitors posted two runs in the second inning and added another tally a frame later, EMCC initially knotted the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the third when the Wisher sisters again smacked back-to-back, extra-base hits at the top of the lineup. Gail followed Karen's RBI triple with a double and later scored on a double steal.

The Greyhounds struck again in their next at-bat by scoring four runs in the fourth inning to pull ahead 7-3. Consecutive run-scoring doubles from Alyssa Kendrick and Mackenzie Keller keyed Moberly's temporary comeback.

The Lions immediately went back to work by first cutting the deficit to a run (7-6) by posting a second straight three-run inning that was highlighted by Victoria Irby's RBI double. EMCC reclaimed the lead for good with a four-run fifth inning to extend the lead to 10-7. A run-scoring double by Madison Newburn and an RBI single from Brianna Byrd highlighted the Lions' go-ahead frame.

As freshman pitcher Savannah Fralix worked the final four innings in relief to claim her first collegiate pitching victory, EMCC added two more insurance runs to a two-run lead in the sixth inning to account for the final margin. Newburn's two-run single capped her 3-for-4 nightcap effort with three RBIs to go along with her 2-for-4 outing in the day's opening game.

At the plate for the Lions in the second game, Gail Wisher added a second double in the game in the sixth inning and third of the day to give the Irvington, Alabama product six two-base hits in as many games played this season. Irby also chipped in with a pair of doubles to help lead EMCC's 11-hit team showing in the nightcap.   

Coach Mackenzie Byrd's EMCC Lions will close out the scheduled non-conference portion of their pre-MACCC softball slate by competing in this weekend's (Feb. 21-22) Hinds-hosted JUCO Classic to be played at Key City Park in Vicksburg. EMCC is slated to take on Kirkwood and Parkland on Friday as well as Coastal Alabama-North and Southern Arkansas University Tech on Saturday.