| EMCC Lady Lions sweep Holmes, 5-2 and 6-3, in final regular-season road softball action |
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GOODMAN – In their final road action of the regular season, the Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College swept Holmes Community College, 5-2 and 6-3 in eight innings, in MACJC North Division softball action Friday afternoon.
In the opener, sophomore Stormy Lewis, of Quitman, doubled to lead off the second inning and courtesy runner Alyssa Farr later came around to score on Cory Roberson’s ground ball. For the next three innings, the contest turned into a pitcher’s duel between EMCC’s Shelby Sheppard and Kelsey Marter of Holmes. In the sixth, Lewis got things started again with a lead-off home run to left field for her team-leading fourth round-tripper of the year. Haley Tutor followed with a single and later scored EMCC’s third run on Alex Smith’s grounder to short. The Lady Bulldogs would finally scratch out a run in the bottom of the sixth, but the visitors came right back to put up two more runs in the top of the seventh to make it 5-1. Allison Hauer and Paige Sheppard smacked back-to-back doubles in front of Lewis, who capped a 3-for-4 outing at the plate with a run-scoring single. Holmes chased Shelby Sheppard in the bottom of the seventh after scoring another run, but freshman Misty Richard came in to get the final three outs and earn the save in the 5-2 contest. Sheppard, from Kemper Academy, evened her record at 5-5 on the year, allowing two runs on just three hits while striking out five and walking three. With EMCC out-hitting Holmes, 11-4, in the opener, Hauer and Tutor each went 2-for-4 at the plate in game one. In addition to her winning effort in the circle, Sheppard also had a pair of singles in the opener. The Lady Lions gained the early advantage in the nightcap as well, scoring solo tallies in the first and third innings on RBI doubles by Paige Sheppard and Lewis, respectively. The home-standing Lady Bulldogs evened the score in the third on a two-run single by Victoria Hunt. As both starting pitchers – EMCC’s Richard and Marter for Holmes - settled down through the middle innings, both teams squandered scoring chances late in the contest. After evenly combining to strand 10 runners on base in the final four frames of regulation play, the Lady Lions and Lady Bulldogs went to a decisive eighth inning in the nightcap. Utilizing the international tie-breaker rule by starting the extra inning with a runner at second, Tutor led off the eighth with a single. Roberson’s double to right-center field scored both Tutor and courtesy runner Shelby Whitt. Still with no outs, Alyssa Farr and Alex Smith followed with singles to make the score 5-2. Amber Spann’s sacrifice fly to right field brought home the fourth run of the extra frame. With Richard still in the circle for the Lady Lions, Holmes managed to score a run and threaten further in the bottom of the eighth. However, Richard rose to the occasion and struck out the side, leaving the bases loaded en route to improving her record to 4-6 on the season. The former West Lauderdale product scattered eight hits over eight innings, fanning 11 batters and walking four. EMCC reached Marter for 13 hits in the nightcap, led by Spann’s 3-for-4 effort at the plate. Lewis, Farr and Smith all added two hits apiece for the winners, as eight of the nine batters in the starting lineup hit safely in game two. Coach Kate Neely’s 13-22 EMCC Lady Lions, now 7-11 in MACJC North Division play, will finish out the regular season with four consecutive home dates on the Scooba campus. The home stretch begins with Tuesday’s 2 p.m. doubleheader with Mississippi Delta Community College at the EMCC Softball Field. The Lady Tigers of Coahoma CC will then visit the Scooba campus the following Tuesday (April 17) for a 1 p.m. twin-bill. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 06 April 2012 ) |
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