| EMCC Lions even division baseball mark with sweep at Holmes |
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GOODMAN – Keyed by a pair of timely pitching performances, the East Mississippi baseball team swept Holmes, 5-4 and 3-1, on the road Saturday afternoon at Charlie Donald Field.
With the Lions improving to 17-11 overall and 4-4 in MACJC North Division play, freshman pitcher Will Edwards gave up just five hits to earn the complete-game victory in the opener. In the nightcap, sophomore starter Tyler Richardson and freshman reliever Justin Pritchett combined to limit the home-standing Bulldogs to just two hits. In the first inning of Saturday’s opener, EMCC benefitted from a clutch two-out, two-run double with the bases loaded by freshman Tyler Aldridge to stake the visitors to an early 2-0 lead. However, Holmes grabbed a 3-2 lead an inning later when Will Henry’s two-run home run capped a three-run second inning for the home team. The Bulldogs added a solo tally the next frame to take a 4-2 advantage after three innings. Following a pair of scoreless innings, East Mississippi knotted the score at 4-4 with RBI singles by Aldridge and sophomore catcher David Williams in the sixth inning. A frame later, the Lions manufactured the winning run with two outs. With sophomore Alex Lummus on third and freshman Hilton Gibson on first, Gibson broke for second base and was able to stay involved in a rundown long enough for Lummus to cross home plate before the third out was recorded. Aldridge, a first-year standout from Caledonia, went 2-for-3 at the plate with three runs batted in, while Gibson and Williams also added two hits apiece for the winners in the opening contest. Meanwhile on the mound, Edwards, a 6-foot-1 right-hander from Kosciusko, struck out five and walked four in going the distance and moving to a team-best 4-0 on the campaign. East Mississippi again struck first in the nightcap, as Gibson plated sophomore Derek Beach with a sacrifice fly to center field in the fourth inning following Lummus’ first of two doubles in the contest. With EMCC’s Richardson giving way to Pritchett after allowing a leadoff walk in the fifth, Holmes evened the score at 1-1 with an unearned run. The Lions responded by scoring a pair in the sixth inning. Following a walk to Beach, Lummus came up big with a run-scoring double. EMCC added an insurance run a few batters later when Gibson was awarded home plate by way of a balk with runners on first and third. A product of West Point’s Oak Hill Academy, Lummus produced two of EMCC’s three hits in the nightcap with a pair of doubles. Beach, a left-hander from Heidelberg Academy, singled in the fourth for the Lions’ only other safety of the second contest. Richardson, a North Alabama signee by way of West Lauderdale High School, pitched into the fifth inning of the nightcap, allowing the one run on just two hits while fanning six and issuing a pair of bases on balls. Picking up the victory in relief and moving to 2-1 on the year, Pritchett, a Northeast Lauderdale product, retired the side in order during the sixth and seventh innings. Head coach Tony Montgomery’s EMCC Lions continue divisional action this week by playing host to Mississippi Delta in a Tuesday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Gerald Poole Field on the Scooba campus. |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 28 March 2010 ) |
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