EMCC’s Evan Hilliard earns MACCC Pitcher of the Week honors after no-hitting Hinds in 10-0 shutout

JACKSON – East Mississippi Community College's Evan Hilliard has been selected as the MACCC Baseball Pitcher of the Week for his masterful no-hit 10-0 shutout win against Hinds this past Saturday. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference as voted on by the league's sports information directors.

Hilliard, a sophomore right-hander from Saraland, Ala., faced just two Hinds batters over the minimum while making efficient use of 63 total pitches with 41 strikes thrown. Hilliard retired the first 11 hitters he faced before allowing consecutive two-out walks in the fourth inning. After stranding the runners on base to get out of the inning, he proceeded to set down the Eagles in order over the final two frames of the six-inning contest. While inducing nine groundouts and six flyouts, Hilliard struck out three batters during his dominant complete-game victory that capped the Lions' run-rule road sweep (16-6 & 10-0) over Hinds in Raymond.

Along with his team-high five wins in six decisions on the year, Hilliard has fanned a team-most 43 batters in 47.1 innings pitched across 13 appearances on the mound, including eight starts. He previously tossed a complete-game shutout earlier this season (Feb. 28), while striking out a career-high eight batters, during a two-hit 6-0 blanking of Gadsden State.

Head coach Brett Kimbrel's EMCC Lions (18-27, 12-10 MACCC) are set to begin a week-long baseball homestand by playing host to Northeast Mississippi in a Wednesday (April 22) doubleheader prior to welcoming Mississippi Gulf Coast to the Scooba campus for a scheduled Saturday (April 25) twin bill. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. for both upcoming baseball doubleheaders at EMCC's Gerald Poole Field.