MCC Baseball Splits Home Set With Northwest

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College baseball team played its final regular season home games of 2017 on Saturday afternoon at Scaggs Field by playing host to conference foe Northwest Mississippi Community College. The Eagles came away with a doubleheader split against the Rangers by winning Game One by a final count of 8-5 and falling in Game Two by a final of 8-1. MCC moved its overall record to 23-19 overall and 12-14 in conference action after the split with Northwest on Saturday. MCC will close out the 2017 regular season next Saturday (May 6) with a doubleheader road trip to Ellisville, MS to take on Jones County Junior College at 2 p.m.

MCC rallied from a 4-0 deficit to take an 8-5 victory over Northwest in Game One of the doubleheader on Saturday. Northwest scored four runs in the top of the first inning off MCC starting pitcher Briar Russell, but things went dramatically different when the Eagles made a move to the bullpen. Russell didn’t record an out in the top of the first inning and MCC made a move to bring in freshman reliever Logan McDowell from the bullpen. McDowell pitched the rest of the game for MCC and improved his pitching record to 4-0 for the 2017 season. McDowell pitched nine innings in relief and allowed only one earned run, while collecting nine strikeouts.

JD Gann led the way at the plate in Game One for MCC with a two-run homer, while former Northeast Lauderdale star Landon Keller added a two-run double. Milton Smith also knocked in a pair of runs in the game on a single, while CJ Hughes and Chase Coker each added an RBI.

MCC wasn’t as fortunate in Game Two against Northwest Mississippi and fell by a final score of 8-1. Zac Carter drove in the only run of the game for MCC on a solo homer in the sixth inning. Milton Smith, Chase Coker, and Cade Ewing each had one single apiece to round out the offense for MCC in Game Two.

Freshman Hunter Stanley suffered the loss on the mound in Game Two for MCC by working six innings and allowing seven earned runs.