| EMCC Lady Lions earn home softball doubleheader split with Itawamba |
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.jpg "Image") The Lady Lions will close out their 2009 home softball slate Monday by playing host to divisional foe Mississippi Delta in a revised tripleheader set to begin at 1 p.m. on the Scooba campus. Trailing 2-1 and managing only a third-inning bunt single by Alex Shelton through the first five innings of the second game off ICC starter and former EMCC transfer Stephanie Pounders, the Lady Lions got started in the sixth with back-to-back singles by Linsey Upton and Summer Frost. After Brooke Lee’s ground out to first moved up the runners, Josie Matthews was intentionally walked with two outs to load the bases. The move backfired on the visitors as Jessica Vick earned a walk on a full-count pitch to force in the tying run. Batting through the lineup during the big inning, the Lady Lions subsequently broke open the contest with a two-run single and two-run double by Lacey Mangrum and Regan Shows, respectively. Both teams plated single runs in the opening frame of the nightcap, as starters Lee and Pounders settled into a pitcher’s duel through the middle innings. The score remained 1-1 until Itawamba’s CeCee Austin led off the sixth with an infield hit and later scored on Ashley Hardin’s sacrifice fly to left after moving to third on consecutive sacrifice bunts by Heather Whitworth and Cyndal Cleveland. Lee, a product of West Lauderdale High School, improved to 9-5 on the year with the complete-game victory. The sophomore right-hander scattered four hits over seven innings, while striking out two and giving up a pair of walks. In Wednesday’s opening contest, Itawamba made a first-inning home run by Austin off EMCC starter Courtney Nunn stand up in posting a 2-0 victory behind the shutout pitching of Melissa Russell. The Lady Indians added a solo tally in the final inning to account for the final outcome. The Lady Lions had their chances at the start of the contest, but they let possible scoring opportunities slip away by stranding a pair of runners in each of the first two frames. Limited to just five singles in the opener, EMCC had four of those hits through the first three frames. After getting through the second inning, ICC’s Russell faced just two batters over the minimum over the final five innings en route to the complete-game shutout. EMCC’s Nunn fell to 8-11 on the season with the hard-luck setback in the opener. The Jonesboro, La., native allowed six hits with seven strikeouts and only one base on balls in going the distance. At the plate for the Lady Lions, Frost, a former East Webster standout, went 3-for-6 at the plate for the afternoon, including two base hits in the first game and another single in East Mississippi’s five-run sixth in the nightcap. Head coach Kate Neely’s EMCC Lady Lions, now 17-21 overall and 10-8 in North Division play, travel to Goodman to take on Holmes in a Saturday doubleheader. East Mississippi then closes out its 2009 home slate by playing host to Mississippi Delta Monday in a revised tripleheader due to two earlier postponed doubleheaders between the two teams because of rain. Softball action Monday on the Scooba campus is set to begin at 1 p.m. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 16 April 2009 ) |
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