Ward Pitches Well; Lady Tigers Split DH with East Central

Ward Pitches Well; Lady Tigers Split DH with East Central

Marion, AL. - On a dreary, damp Monday afternoon the MMI Lady Tigers split a doubleheader at home against East Central Community College.  MMI won 9-1 in game one (5 innings) while the vistors took game two in extra innings, 5-4.

Game one - Marion jumped on ECCC in the bottom of the first inning after Jaina Walden was hit by a pitch in her first at-bat.  Anna Claire Gresham doubled to move runners into scoring position for Morgan Gaither.  Gaither doubled to plate the two runs.  They added two more runs in the third inning.  Gaither earned a walk and with two outs Yasmin Cottingham delivered with a base hit.  She was followed by Whitney Edgecomb who doubled and brought two of her teammates across home plate.  Marion gave up one run in the top of the fourth inning but added another one of their own in the bottom half of that inning to make it a 5-1 game.  The fifth inning saw the Lady Tigers add four more runs to end the game early.  Lexi McCray started the inning with a stand-up double.  Cottingham had a basehit to right field and Braedyn Ward followed suit with a base hit, bringing in one run.  With two outs freshman Taylor Mitchell hit a shot of the middle to centerfield to bring in two more runs.  After the center fielder misplayed the ball, Mitchell motored around third and scored the deciding run.  Sophomore Bryndi-Alyn Ward pitched well in her third win of the season.  In five innings of work, she gave up seven hits with only one earned run while striking out two batters.

Game two - Freshman Alex Reed started on the mound for Marion but was quickly relieved by Ward in the second inning.  East Central plated two runs in that inning.  MMI tied the game in the next inning when Mitchell earned a walk with one out.  Walden had a base hit and moved Mitchell to third.  Gresham earned a walk to load the bases for Gaither who blasted a two-run double to right centerfield.   Marion added a run in the fourth to give the home squad a one-run lead.  Edgecomb reached on a fielder's choice and Ward moved her to second base.  Dalton Merrill hit a shot down third base line and scored Edgecomb.  East Central tied the game back at three apiece in the next inning.  The score remained tied into the eighth inning when the visitors plated two runs to take a 5-3 lead.  In their last at-bat the Lady Tigers scored once on a bases loaded walk but couldn't get any closer.  Ward took the loss, dropping to 3-1 on the season.  In 6.2 innings of work, she gave up six hits, three runs (two earned) while strikiing out three ECCC batters.