EMCC Lions to close out February with two-week softball home stand

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College softball team will look to get back on track during this week's home stand by welcoming Missouri-based Moberly Area Community College to Scooba for a Tuesday twin bill (Feb. 17) prior to playing host to Coastal Alabama-North in a rematch doubleheader on Thursday (Feb. 19). First pitch is set for 1 p.m. both days at the EMCC Softball Field.

Head coach Mackenzie Byrd's EMCC Lions begin this week's homestand with a 3-5 record on the young season after most recently dropping a pair of home decisions to Shelton State (14-0 & 9-5) and falling twice at Marion Military Institute (6-1 & 9-1) a week ago. The Lions opened Byrd's fourth season at the school's softball coaching helm by splitting with MMI in Scooba (15-5 L & 6-5 W) and then sweeping Coastal Alabama-North in Monroeville (6-2 & 7-2) during the first week of February.

Through the season's first eight games, EMCC is batting .300 as a team with five starters hitting .333 or better during the year. Sophomore corner infielders Savannah Fralix (.400) and Madison Newburn (.391) as well as freshman Hanna Boleware (.389) all co-lead the Lions with two home runs each. Transfer Savannah Mitchell, a California native via Northeast Mississippi CC, is batting .333 with a homer in addition to owning a 2-1 pitching record in the circle. Freshman middle infielder Devin Bourgeois also has a homer to give EMCC a total of eight home runs as a team in as many games played on the season.

In addition, freshman middle infielder Olivia Saucier enters the week batting .385 after having hit safely during each of her first seven collegiate games.

Along with Mitchell's pair of wins, including a complete-game 7-2 nightcap victory over Coastal Alabama-North on Feb. 7, EMCC's other pitching win thus far belongs to sophomore Allee Bennett, who is 1-2 in her four starts. Freshman Reese Edwards has received two pitching starts to this point for the Lions.

On the heels of this week's home doubleheaders versus Moberly Area and Coastal Alabama-North, East Mississippi's two-week softball home stand will continue into the following week with a Friday (Feb. 27) twin bill against Gadsden State Community College to wrap up the month of February. A return doubleheader to be played at Shelton State (March 2 in Tuscaloosa) will close out the Lions' non-conference softball slate before they begin MACCC competition by playing host to East Central (March 7) and Holmes (March 10).