| East Mississippi falls to Georgia Perimeter 6-3 in baseball season debut at Florida tournament |
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PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Four unearned runs in the sixth inning proved to be the difference in East Mississippi Community College’s 6-3 season-opening loss to Georgia Perimeter College Saturday afternoon in opening-day action of the Gulf Coast CC-hosted Kevin Miller Baseball Bash played at Frazier Field.
Leading 3-2 with the Lions putting up single tallies in the second, third and fourth innings, EMCC reliever Blake Hutcheson retired the first two GPC hitters in the sixth inning. Felton James followed with a grounder to second base, but EMCC sophomore Tyler Aldridge misplayed the ball to set up the two-out rally. After a subsequent double by McLendon Hill, designated hitter Kenny Strauss put the Jaguars in the lead, 5-3, with a three-run home run. Georgia Perimeter would tack on another unearned run in the sixth to stake reliever Clay Garner to a three-run lead. Replacing starter Trevor Walch, an Oklahoma State transfer, to start the fifth inning, Garner stymied the East Mississippi bats by striking out a dozen Lions and surrendering just a pair of Tyler Bonaventure singles over the final five frames to pick up the victory. “We pitched very well and won eight out of the nine innings today,” first-year EMCC head baseball coach Chris Rose noted. “The guys can see that we’re progressing and getting better.” EMCC’s Hutcheson, from Saltillo, was saddled with the hard-luck loss for the Lions. Sophomore starter Kameron Heiser, a product of West Lauderdale High School, was impressive in his 2011 debut by scattering five hits with five strikeouts and but one walk over the first four innings. Hutcheson threw three innings in middle relief, while freshman Wesley Dodd, of Madison, worked the eighth frame for EMCC. Bonaventure, a Brusly, La., native paced East Mississippi’s eight-hit debut offensively with a 3-for-5 outing on the day. Aldridge, a Caledonia High School product, was the only other EMCC player with multiple hits with a 2-for-4 effort. The East Mississippi Lions will close out play in the rain-shortened tournament by meeting the host Commodores of Gulf Coast Community College Sunday at 4 p.m. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 05 February 2011 ) |
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