| EMCC Lions drop baseball doubleheader at Northwest Mississippi in regular-season road finale |
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SENATOBIA – In their final road action of the regular season, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College were swept by Northwest Mississippi, 9-0 and 5-4, Saturday afternoon in MACJC North Division baseball action at Ranger Field. The twinbill was postponed from Friday following heavy rains during the midweek.
Falling to 12-10 in division play but still bidding to earn their first postseason berth since 2004, the 14-27 EMCC Lions will play host to Northeast Mississippi on Saturday (April 30) in a 3 p.m. doubleheader that may possibly decide the division’s fourth and final playoff spot. The Northeast Tigers, 11-9 in league action, will entertain Northwest (15-5 division record) Wednesday in Booneville before heading to Scooba for Saturday’s crucial regular-season finale. In Saturday’s opener in Senatobia, the visiting Lions once again struggled with Northwest right-hander Garrett Radicioni, who previously pitched a complete-game six-hitter against EMCC last month in Scooba. Hurling another complete game, the freshman from Clarksdale this time limited the visitors to just three singles in raising his record to 5-2 on the year. Radicioni struck out six batters and did not issue a walk while throwing 84 pitches for the Rangers. Northwest tagged EMCC starter Will Edwards (1-5) for four runs on four hits in the first inning to give Radicioni all the run support he would need in the opener. The Rangers tacked on two additional runs in the second and added three more tallies in the fourth off Lions middle reliever Lance Portera, though only one of the five runs was earned. The Lions’ trio of hits in the opening contest came on Tyler Aldridge’s leadoff single in the fourth, a sixth-inning bunt single by Aaron Brady, and Rusty McAlister’s pinch-hit single in the final frame. In the closely-contested nightcap, the two teams traded two-run spots in the opening frame. EMCC sophomore Mitch Bohon’s two-run blast to left field – his team-leading sixth home run of the year – was matched by Drew Griffin’s two-out, two-run double. The Rangers answered EMCC’s unearned run in the third inning with three unearned runs of their own in the fourth off Lions middle reliever Cole Vaughan (0-3), who came in for starter Kameron Heiser in the third. A former West Lauderdale product, Heiser gave up two runs on four hits while making his first start on the mound since having an appendectomy a month ago. Following scoreless fifth and sixth innings, the Lions greeted Northwest closer Jimmy Braswell with a hit-by-pitch by Aldridge and an opposite-field double by Alex Chick. With runners on second and third with no outs, the Rangers brought in Griffin to face the heart of the EMCC lineup. Bohon promptly grounded out to third base, scoring Aldridge, but Chick was thrown out attempting to advance to third base. With the bases now empty and two outs after the double play, Tyler Bonaventure flied out to left field to end the contest. Freshman Ismael Reyes had two of EMCC’s seven hits in the second game. Aldridge added a fourth-inning double, while Brett Tortorich had a single in the first and Connor Cox reached on an infield hit in the third. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 23 April 2011 ) |
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