MCC Baseball Splits Season Finale

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College baseball team concluded the 2016 regular season on Tuesday afternoon with a conference doubleheader with second ranked Jones County Junior College at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, MS.

The Eagles split its final doubleheader of the regular season by falling to the Bobcats in Game One by a final of 5-4 and rebounding in Game Two with a 4-1 victory. MCC finished the regular season with a 37-9 overall record and a 20-8 conference mark. MCC will now move on to the MACJC playoffs and will open the first round of the postseason on Friday at home against Itawamba Community College. The two teams will compete in a three-game series and the winner will move on to the 2016 MACJC State Tournament. The opening game of the series is set for Friday at Scaggs Field with a first pitch of 6 p.m. and the series will continue on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Eagles fell into a 5-2 hole in Game One and couldn't complete the comeback to fall to the Bobcats by a final of 5-4. Kyle Bayles led the way at the plate in Game One with a two-run single and Luke Craig also added an RBI single. Matt Berler also collected a pair of singles and Nate Romans checked in with three singles.

Drew Smith suffered the pitching loss in Game One out of the MCC bullpen by working three innings in relief.

MCC bounced back in Game Two with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to salvage a split with the Bobcats by a final of 4-1. Blake Fields led MCC at the plate in Game Two with a pair of hits and one RBI, while Kyle Bayles also drove in one run on a sacrifice fly. Nate Romans also collected an RBI single, while Trace Hamby and Chase Coker each added one hit apiece.

Bukhari Brown picked up the win out of the bullpen for the Eagles, while Caleb Yarborough earned the save for the Eagles.