EMCC Lions bounce back with solid nightcap effort in tough-luck softball setback at No. 14 Itawamba

FULTON – The visiting Lions of East Mississippi Community College battled nationally 14^th-ranked Itawamba to the wire before dropping a tough-luck 2-1 nightcap decision during Tuesday's MACCC softball action played at Andy Kirk Field. ICC also claimed the opening game with a 17-0 run-rule victory over EMCC.

Showcased by a noteworthy pitchers' duel between EMCC's Allee Bennett and ICC's Ramsey Montgomery, the second game also featured a solid defensive effort by the Lions.

Limited to just six hits on the day by ICC pitching, the Lions made the most of their first of two hits in the nightcap when Savannah Fralix opened the second inning with a leadoff single. She then advanced to third base on an errant throw to second base in an attempt to get a force out on Savannah Mitchell's infield grounder. RaMiyah Price followed with a run-scoring sacrifice bunt that brought home Fralix.

Itawamba answered in the fourth inning by loading the bases with just one out. The Indians plated the tying run on a sacrifice fly to shallow left field, but Bennett got out of the inning with minimal damage by stranding a pair of runners in scoring position. ICC also left two runners on base the following frame.

ICC's Montgomery, a reigning All-Region 23 performer who had previously earned NJCAA Division II Pitcher of the Week honors this season, was equally effective in the circle for the Indians. After allowing the unearned run in the second inning, she settled down to limit EMCC to just two base runners over the game's final five innings. Mitchell reached on a two-out infield single to second base in the fourth inning and Annagrace Stewart coaxed a two-out walk a frame later.

The nightcap's outcome came down to the home half of the seventh inning when Victoria Fields smacked a two-out triple ahead of Zoe Goodman's walk-off soft liner to shallow left field on a full count.

Bennett, a sophomore from Perkinston, pitched effectively and fielded her position well in defeat for the Lions. Along with scattering seven hits, while striking out two and walking a pair, she was responsible for four timely putouts on fielding plays she made during her complete-game effort within the circle.

Despite the eventual misleading final score, the opening game was a 2-0 contest after three innings. After the Lions stranded runners at the corners in the opening frame and left the bases loaded the next inning, ICC starting pitcher Lizzie Meeks didn't allow a base runner over the game's last three innings.

Freshman middle infielder Olivia Saucier had singles during each of the first two innings of the opener when EMCC threatened to get on the scoreboard. Fralix added a two-out single in the first frame, while Hanna Boleware contributed a one-out single an inning later to account for the Lions' four hits in the opening contest.

Head coach Mackenzie Byrd's EMCC Lions (9-23, 1-15 MACCC) are set to play host to the reigning national champion and current third-ranked Lady Wolves of Copiah-Lincoln Community College on Friday (April 3). First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the Scooba campus.