March 11, 2022

The East Central Community College Lady Warriors softball team had a great start to MACCC play Friday, March 11, with a pair of wins over the East Mississippi Community College Lady Lions.

The wins improve the Lady Warriors record to 13-7, 2-0, and dropped the Lady Lions to 3-16, 0-2.

It was all ECCC in both contests as the Lady Warriors outscored the Lady Lions 11-4 on the day with 6-3 and 5-1 wins. ECCC's Caroline Jackson and Makayla White teamed up for a strong outing in the first game, while Rae Rae Evans threw a complete game in the nightcap.

Emily McDonald got hits in both games to grow her team-high hitting streak to eight games.

Game One | W, 6-3 

ECCC was first on the board in the first game of the day as the Lady Warriors put up five runs in the bottom of the third. Shante' Beaulieu led off the frame with a single and was quickly scored with a Mattie Hodge two-run homer to left, her first of the year. Emily McDonald crossed the plate later in the frame off a double steal before Meadow Villar drove in Taylor Pittman with a scorched groundball to left. Villar eventually came around and scored as Emmi Harkins posted an RBI double with a line drive deep to left. 

The five-run lead did not last long as EMCC hit a two-run homer in the fourth, but strong play in the field got ECCC out of the frame with a double play. 

An RBI single from the Lady Lions in the fifth cut the lead to just two, 5-3, but the Lady Warriors were right back at it at the dish with Pittman leading off with a double. Villar quickly plated the freshman with a hard shot right up the middle to push the score to 6-3, where it would hold for the remainder of the contest. 

Jackson threw five innings, surrendered four hits, three runs – all earned – and fanned two Lady Lions, while White threw two frames in relief, surrendering just one hit. 

ECCC outhit the Lady Lions eight to five with Hodge and Villar posting two hits and two RBIs, both team-highs. The Lady Warriors saw the ball very well as zero ECCC batters struck out. 

Game Two | W, 5-1

Another hot start had ECCC in the lead early in the second game of the day. Hodge led off the bottom of the first with a double and quickly reached the plate as Madison Holton drove her home with an RBI single. 

An EMCC home run quickly knotted the game at 1-all in the second. The Lady Warriors responded with a long-ball of their own in the third as McDonald barrelled up a ball and sent it deep to left-center. The solo homer, McDonald's second of the year, put ECCC on top 2-1. Beaulieu drove in another run in the fourth, before Villar plated a run with a groundout in the fifth. 

McDonald, Holton, Jayce Currie, and Lizzy Hollingsworth all finished the day with two hits in the contest as the Lady Warriors racked up 10 hits to EMCC's three. Again, no Lady Warriors struck out in the game.

Evans went the distance in the circle and surrendered just three hits, one run – earned – one walk, and posted one strikeout. 

Up Next

The Lady Warriors are on the road on Wednesday, March 16, as the team travels to Summit to take on Southwest Mississippi at 3 and 5 p.m.