February 20, 2020
The East Central Community College Warriors lost early leads in both games in dropping a road baseball doubleheader to the Pensacola State Pirates Wednesday, Feb. 19.
Pensacola State won by scores of 7-2 and 12-9. The two seven-inning games were played at Pirate Field on the Pensacola State campus in Pensacola, Fla.
With the losses, East Central falls to 2-4 on the season. NJCAA Division I Pensacola State improves to 7-5.
East Central led game one 2-0 after three innings thanks to an RBI double by freshman outfielder/pitcher Jesse Boydstun (Winston Academy) and a hard groundout by sophomore second baseman Eli Harrison (Newton County). That lead held until the bottom of the fourth when Pensacola State scored six runs after two outs. The Pirates put together four singles and a walk and took advantage of a passed ball and an East Central error that allowed three runs to cross the plate.
Pensacola State added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth on a home run to make the final score 7-2.
Boydstun had a pair of doubles in game one and sophomore shortstop Roper Ball (Nanih Waiya) had two singles.
East Central outhit the Pirates in the opener 9-6, but committed three errors and gave up three unearned runs.
The Warriors also outhit Pensacola State in game two, 11-9, but committed eight errors. Four of the miscues came in the bottom of the fourth when the Pirates pushed seven runs across the plate. Only one of Pensacola State’s 12 runs in the game was earned.
East Central scored two runs in the top of the first on a single, error, and passed ball. After Pensacola State tied the game with single runs in each of the first two innings, the Warriors regained the lead 3-2 on an RBI single from freshman left fielder Branson Sharpley (Taylorsville) in the top of the third. The Pirates went ahead 5-3 in the bottom of the frame before exploding for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to move in front 12-3.
The Warriors tried to rally with seven straight singles to open the top of the sixth to close the final score to 12-9.
Boydstun had a single and a triple in the nightcap, while Harrison and sophomore center fielder Dakota Kennedy (Choctaw Central) each had two singles.
East Central will host the Rush Invitational at the Clark-Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur Friday through Sunday, Feb. 21-23. East Central will face Bossier Parish (La.) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, and then Jefferson College (Mo.) at 7 p.m. that night. Other teams participating during the weekend include East Mississippi, Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Wallace State (Hanceville, Ala.).
Most all home games can be heard on WKOZ “Cruisin” 98.3 or watched via live stream video at www.eccc.edu/eccc-media.
