| East Mississippi swept by Copiah-Lincoln, 11-1 and 8-7 in baseball homestand opener |
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SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College baseball team opened a week-long homestand by falling to visiting Copiah-Lincoln, 11-1 and 8-7, Saturday afternoon at Gerald Poole Field on the Scooba campus.
In the opener, the Lions grabbed an early 1-0 lead when sophomore Hilton Gibson opened the second inning with a double down the left-field line and later scored on Jake Upton’s sacrifice fly. Unfortunately for the home team, that was the only offense generated in the first contest, as EMCC could not get a runner into scoring position over the final five frames. The visiting Wolfpack took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning, but broke open the contest by scoring six unearned runs in the sixth after two outs with the help of three EMCC miscues. Aided by the Lions’ fifth error of the contest, Co-Lin added two more unearned tallies with two outs in the seventh to account for the final margin. Copiah-Lincoln’s Raymond Winter went the distance in the opener, limiting the Lions to just three hits while striking out 10 and not issuing a walk. Starter Gabe Franks took the loss for EMCC, allowing six hits and three runs with three strikeouts and no walks while pitching into the sixth inning. In the nightcap, the Lions answered Co-Lin’s two-run second inning with three scores in the bottom of the frame. After singling to begin the rally, Randy Hornesbuger later scored on a wild pitch. Following a Rusty McAlister double and a walk to Stephen Hudson, Upton plated a run with a groundout to short and Brett Tortorich singled in the third run. EMCC upped the margin to 5-2 with two more runs in the third inning. Antwan Ratcliff opened the frame with an infield single and moved around to third on Mitch Bohon’s double to right-center field. Hornesbuger followed with a run-producing groundout to short and McAlister added an RBI single. However, the Lions would leave the bases loaded in the inning. In relief of starter Demontez Calvert, Lion southpaw Thomas Dorsey gave up a leadoff home run to Kolby Byrd – his second blast of the day – in the fourth. With the aid of a walk, stolen base and a passed ball, the Wolfpack manufactured another run to cut the deficit to 5-4. The momentum of the nightcap turned in the fifth inning with the visitors scoring four unearned runs with two outs off sophomore right-hander Justin Pritchett. Aided by two EMCC miscues, Co-Lin moved ahead 8-5. To their credit, the Lions pulled together in the home half of the fifth to take advantage of leadoff back-to-back walks to Bohon and Hornesbuger. After McAlister moved up both runners with a sacrifice bunt, Hudson singled up the middle to make it an 8-7 contest. The Lions threatened again in the sixth inning, but left two runners stranded in scoring position. Co-Lin closer Tyler Copeland retired EMCC in order in the seventh to complete the road sweep. With 10 hits coming between eight different EMCC players in the nightcap, Lion sophomores McAlister and Zane Migues each had a single and a double in the second game to lead the way. Gibson, a former New Hope product, had two of EMCC’s three hits in the opener with a single and a two-bagger. Continuing their week-long homestand, head coach Chris Rose’s 1-17 EMCC Lions will begin MACJC North Division competition by playing host to Itawamba Wednesday (March 16) afternoon before entertaining Mississippi Delta on Saturday (March 19) in Scooba. Both divisional twinbills are set for 3 p.m. starting times at EMCC’s Gerald Poole Field. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 March 2011 ) |
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