April 5, 2017
The No. 13 nationally ranked East Central Community College baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Pearl River Community College Tuesday, April 4, in Poplarville.
The Diamond Warriors could not catch up after letting the Wildcats have early big innings in each contest.
The Wildcats defeated ECCC 7-3 in game one and then took the nightcap 5-2.
With the losses, the Diamond Warriors dropped to 20-10 overall and 6-6 in MACJC league play. Pearl River improved to 17-7 on the season and 8-2 MACJC play.
In game one, ECCC took the lead first scoring two in the second on a stolen base and an RBI single off the bat of Hunter Bennett of Chilton County (Ala.) High School. But Pearl River took the lead for good after scoring four runs of their own in the bottom of the second.
ECCC pushed another run across in the fourth on a single by Wyatt Ball of Nanih Waiya High School to close the deficit to 4-3. Pearl River then scored single runs in the fifth, seventh, and eighth.
Freshman right-hander Cole Gray of Lamar School in Meridian took the loss for the Diamond Warriors, pitching one and one-third innings and allowing four runs on three hits.
In game two, Pearl River went up 4-0 in the bottom of the third and never surrender the lead.
Sophomore Cole Prestegard of Huntsville High School blasted a two-run homer in the fourth for ECCC’s only runs of the game.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Brooks Warren of French Camp High School took the loss for Warriors. He went five innings, allowing five runs, seven hits, and striking out five.
The Diamond Warriors move on to host East Mississippi Community College Saturday, April 8, at 2 p.m. in the Clark-Gay Baseball Complex in Decatur.
