MCC Baseball Splits Home Set With Holmes

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College baseball team returned to Scaggs Field on Saturday afternoon to open an eight-game home stand against Holmes Community College. The Eagles split the conference twin bill against the Bulldogs by falling in Game One by a final of 7-4 and bouncing back in Game Two to win 4-3. MCC moved its overall record to 28-8 overall and 13-7 in conference play with the split on Saturday. MCC will step out of conference action on Monday with a doubleheader at Scaggs Field against Spring Hill beginning at 2 p.m.

MCC fell behind 4-1 after two innings of play in Game One on Saturday against Holmes and eventually fell to the road team by a final count of 7-4. Both teams banged out 13 hits apiece in the opening game on Saturday, but Holmes was able to come up with clutch hits that led to the victory.

Luke Craig led the effort at the plate for MCC with a two-run homer, while Kyle Bayles drove in one run on three base hits in the loss. Eason Weeks also added a solo homer, while Nate Romans and Dalton Smith each had two singles apiece.

Former Neshoba Central star Austin Harrison (5-1) suffered the loss on the mound for MCC by working four innings and allowing five earned runs. Freshman Caleb Yarborough pitched five solid innings out of the bullpen for the Eagles and allowed only one earned run.

MCC bounced back in Game Two behind a gritty pitching performance from Ryan Lane (5-2) to squeeze out a 4-3 victory over Holmes to salvage the split. Lane, a former West Lauderdale star, pitched 5 1/3 innings and notched a pair of strikeouts. Freshman Spencer Price picked up the save out of the bullpen by working 1 2/3 innings and collecting two strikeouts.

Luke Craig led MCC at the plate in Game Two with three hits and one RBI, while Nate Romans added an RBI single in the one-run victory. Daniel Hill also drove in one run on a single and Matt Berler added a pair of base hits in the win.