| EMCC softball drops season-opening doubleheader to rival East Central |
|
|
.jpg "Image") Coach Kate Neely’s EMCC softball team opened the 2009 campaign by dropping a pair of home decisions to East Central Tuesday. After falling behind by a run early in the opener, coach Kate Neely’s Lady Lions plated three runs in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead. EMCC’s lone lead of the twin bill came when sophomore Lacey Mangrum of Hernando delivered a two-out, two-run single up the middle in front of Alex Mallette’s run-producing double. The Lady Warriors responded by sending eight batters to the plate during a four-run fifth inning. Leading off the inning with a walk off EMCC starter Brooke Lee, East Central’s Brandy Greer scored on Emily Thrash’s single to left. With two outs, Leah Dennis drove home Kristen Pillsbury, who had reached on a double, with a single. Clean-up hitter Britney Cochran followed with a clutch two-run base hit to put the visitors ahead by a 5-3 score. After being held hitless by ECCC starter Erin Breland while sending but 14 batters to the plate over a four-inning span, the Lady Lions rallied in the bottom of the seventh. Mangrum started the comeback attempt with her second single of the game coming straight through the pitcher’s circle. Mallette, a sophomore from Saltillo, sent Mangrum around to score with her second double of the contest. After EMCC relief pitcher Courtney Nunn pushed Mallette to third via a groundout, sophomore catcher Jessica Vick took the count full before flying out to center field for the game’s final out. In the nightcap, the Lady Warriors took advantage of Nunn’s second-inning wildness to push across a run on a bases-loaded walk. East Central added two more runs the next inning, as Paige Holsen and Greer produced run-scoring safeties in the third to push the margin to 3-0. After ECCC added an insurance run in the sixth inning, the Lady Lions managed to record their lone run of the second game when freshman Alex Shelton of West Point knocked in Starkville’s Portia Randle, who had opened the frame with a double, with a sacrifice fly to right field. Managing to register but 11 total base hits during the doubleheader, East Mississippi was limited to five hits in the nightcap by a trio of ECCC hurlers. Breland picked up her second win of the day for the visitors, while Nunn took the loss for the Lady Lions. The EMCC softball team travels to Summit to take on Southwest Mississippi in a Thursday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., before heading to Hattiesburg to compete in a round-robin tournament Friday and Saturday at the Timberton Complex. The Lady Lions will open the two-day, pool-play event Friday by taking on host Pearl River and Faulkner State (Ala.) at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively. EMCC is slated to meet Northwest Florida State College at 11:30 a.m. and LSU-Eunice at 1 p.m. on Saturday. |
|
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 February 2009 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|