| EMCC baseball team swept at home by division rival Itawamba |
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SCOOBA – Despite a 12-hit effort in the opener and a quality pitching performance in the nightcap, the East Mississippi baseball team was swept by divisional rival Itawamba, 14-6 and 6-1, Wednesday afternoon at Gerald Poole Field on the Scooba campus.
In the opener, the visiting Indians batted around in both the second and third innings to take a commanding 11-1 lead after three innings. ICC managed to plate six runs in the second on only four hits, including consecutive runs scored on a wild pitch and passed ball. Itawamba also benefitted from successive hit batsmen and a pair of walks during the inning. A two-out, two-run single down the left field line by Will Irvin chased EMCC starter Kameron Heiser, who was saddled with his first collegiate loss after a 3-0 start as a freshman. After the Lions manufactured a solo run in the second, Itawamba again sent 11 batters to the plate in the third, scoring five times on five hits. Along with another run scoring by way of a wild pitch, two other ICC runners scored when Lion reliever Andrew Graham’s pickoff attempt at second base sailed into center field. Despite digging themselves a deep hole early in the contest, the Lions continued to hit the ball through the middle innings. Following a pair of ground outs to begin the fourth, sophomore Brandon Kiewel doubled down the left field line and Derek Beach walked. Both players would score on Thomas Hays’ subsequent RBI single to right field. EMCC added a run in the fifth on Billy Autrey’s run-scoring groundout, but the Lions would leave the bases loaded. With a dozen hits in the opener, East Mississippi managed at least one hit during each of the seven innings. At the same time, however, the Lions were stymied offensively by leaving at least one runner on base each inning and stranding a total of 12 base runners for the contest. EMCC cut the deficit to 11-6 on an RBI double by Hilton Gibson and a run-scoring single by Tyler Aldridge in the sixth inning, but the Indians batted around for the third time in the contest by scoring three more runs in the seventh to round out the 14-6 final. In the nightcap, defensive woes by the Lions in the second inning handed the visitors an early 2-0 lead on a pair of unearned runs. EMCC got one of those runs back in the third by plating an unearned run. Heiser led off and reached second base on a throwing error by ICC third baseman John Gatlin. After advancing to third on Randy Frederick’s sacrifice bunt, Heiser scored on Alex Lummus’ groundout to third. With Beach throwing effectively on the mound in the second game, the Lions failed to take advantage of a golden scoring opportunity in the fourth inning. EMCC loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Drew Vaughan and Mitch Bohon, along with Aldridge reaching base for the second straight time via the hit by pitch. However at the bottom of the lineup, backup catcher Steven Peebles struck out looking and Heiser bounced into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. As ICC starter Jake Sloan was holding East Mississippi to just four singles in the complete-game victory, the Indians added another run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to clinch the sweep by a 6-1 tally. A sophomore left-hander from Heidelberg, Beach gave up eight hits over 6.1 innings of work, along with seven strikeouts and five walks, to drop to 2-2 on the season. ICC’s Sloan fanned six and allowed just a leadoff walk to Frederick in the first. Now 15-11 overall and 2-4 in MACJC North Division play, head coach Tony Montgomery’s EMCC Lions travel to Holmes for a Saturday doubleheader in Goodman before returning home to play host to Mississippi Delta Tuesday afternoon (1 p.m.) on the Scooba campus. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 March 2010 ) |
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