POPLARVILLE – Pearl River Community College got back on the winning track Friday afternoon, sweeping a hastily-arranged doubleheader from Lake Land (Ill.) at Dub Herring Park.
Pearl River took the opener 10-0 in five innings, then completed the sweep with a 3-1 win in the nightcap,
PRCC (11-3) needed to scramble after Spoon River (Ill.) cancelled its scheduled games against the Wildcats on Sunday. The Lakers (4-10) were in Mississippi playing East Central on Wednesday and Meridian on Thursday, and agreed to extend their trip an extra day.
The Wildcats treated their guests rather rudely in the first game, as redshirt sophomore Drake Nightengale (Sumrall) and sophomore Preston Krummel (Purvis) combined for a one-hitter. Freshman Shemar Page (Raleigh) raised his record to 4-0 in the second game.
Nightengale (1-0) threw four innings, allowing the Lakers' only hit, striking out three and walking one. The Wildcats gave him all the help he would need with a run in the bottom of the first and seven runs in the fourth.
Sophomore Derek Eberly (Blountstown, Fla.) opened the first by reaching on an error. He went to second on the first of three singles by redshirt sophomore Bryson Medious (Columbia), went to third on a flyout and scored on a botched pickoff move to first.
Freshman Wiley Cleland (Columbia) and Page singled to lead off the fourth for PRCC. A sacrifice moved the runners up and both scored on an error. A hit batter and a single by Eberly loaded the bases, and Medious drove in two runs with a single.
Sophomore Simon Landry (Ponchatoula, La.), freshman Noah Barron (Hoover, Ala.) and Cleland each drove in a run with singles on successive at-bats.
PRCC brought the game to an end on the 10-run rule with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Sophomore Kevin Carter (Gulfport) was hit by a pitch leading off. He stole second and scored on a single by Eberly. Freshman Trenton Lee (Picayune) singled and freshman Hudson Little (Hattiesburg) drove in the Wildcats' 10th run with a single.
Page struck out seven batters in four innings and didn't walk a batter. He allowed a run on three hits. He spotted the Lakers a 1-0 lead in the second, but the Wildcats came to the rescue, scoring all three runs in the fourth.
Medious led off with a single, stole second and an error on the throw put him on third. Another error allowed him to score. Redshirt freshman Matt Taylor (Raleigh) drove in a run with a double, and he scored on a single by freshman Luke Harper (Meridian).
Sophomore Luke Bradley (Pass Christian), freshman Colin Danley (Moss Point) and freshman Jerod Meggs (Kosciusko) each threw an inning of hitless, scoreless relief, and Meggs was credited with his third save of the season.
The Wildcats have moved their doubleheader against Elaine P. Nunez (La.) to 4 p.m. Tuesday, instead of Wednesday as originally scheduled, then PRCC opens MACJC play at 2 p.m. Saturday at Northwest Mississippi.
PRCC BASEBALL LINESCORES
Friday at Poplarville
Pearl River 10, Lake Land (Ill.) 0
LLCC 000 00 – 0 1 4
PRCC 100 72 – 10 12 0
LAKE LAND (4-9): Kevin Reyes 1B. LP – Bradley Wolfe (0-2). Also pitching – Brandon Puckett.
PEARL RIVER (10-3): Derek Eberly 2 1B; Bryson Medious 3 1B; Trenton Lee 1B; Simon Landry 1B; Noah Barron 1B; Hudson Little 1B; Wiley Cleland 2 1B; Shemar Page 1B. WP – Drake Nightengale (1-0). Also pitching – Preston Krummel.
Pearl River 3, Lake Land (Ill.) 1
LLCC 010 000 0 – 1 3 2
PRCC 000 300 x – 3 5 1
LAKE LAND (4-10): Sam Gubbins 1B; Mitchell Shaw 1B; Brady Sutton 1B. LP – Nathan Rohmann (0-1). Also pitching – Ben Sweeney.
PEARL RIVER (11-3): Derek Eberly 1B; Bryson Medious 1B; Matt Taylor 2B; Luke Harper 1B; Magruder O'Bannon 1B. WP – Shemar Page (4-0). Save – Jerod Meggs (3); Also pitching – Luke Bradley; Colin Danley.