Lady ''Cats split at Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. Pearl River Community College split with Baton Rouge CC here Thursday in NJCAA softball action with the host Lady Bears taking a 10-2 victory in the first game of the doubleheader before the Lady Wildcats rebounded with a 9-1 victory in the nightcap game. PRCC improved to is now 4-5 overall after Thursday twin bill, while BRCC is 2-10. In the first game, the Lady Wildcats went up 2-0 in the top of the first inning and that score remained intact until Baton Rouge blew it open with eight in the bottom of the fourth before adding solo runs in the sixth and seventh frames. Starter Haley Grantham got the win, giving up five hits, striking out nine, walking three, and hitting a batter; while River starter Neely McCrary of Petal High (0-2) got the loss in her three innings on the mound. She gave up six hits, struck out one, walked three, and hit a batter before Heather Hester of Hancock County High relieved in the fourth, giving up nine hits, recorded a walk, and hitting two batters. Whitney Waits of Oak Grove High led the Lady Wildcats five-hit effort with a pair of singles, while Morghan Cuevas of Purvis High, Janessa Dedeaux of Poplarville High, and Hester all had base hits. Baton Rouge finished with a whopping 15 hits, led by Dara Butler with three singles; while Haley St. Amant doubled and singled. Kamryn Hill, Stephanie Picard, and Allysa Williams had two singles each; while Grantham doubled and Mallory Boudreaux, Alexis Gremillion, and Blair Sanders all had base hits. PRCC committed two errors in the game to BRCC none. In the second game, things were scoreless for the first two innings before Pearl River blew things open with five-run barrage in the top of the third. Baton Rouge countered with a solo run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Lady Wildcats added four more in the top of the seventh to ice the victory. Brittany LeBlanc (2-1) out of North Vermillion High in Lafayette, La., got the win, giving up four hits, striking out four, and walking two; while BRCC starter Paige Fink got the loss. Fink pitched two-and-a-third innings, giving up five hits, striking out two, walking two, and hitting a batter; while Grantham relieved in the third, giving up six hits and striking out five. Alyssa Graeter of Poplarville High led Pearl River 11-hit attack with a home runs and a triple, while Hester and ETrareo Warren of Meridian High both doubled and singled. Amanda Emerson of Sumrall High had two base hits, while Christina Hart out of Northshore High in Slidell, La., doubled and Dedeaux and Waits had singles. Blair Sanders had two singles for Baton Rouge, while Danielle Dyar and Gremillion both had base hits. PRCC committed two errors in the game to BRCC three. The River and Baton Rouge eye rematches Tuesday, March 13, when PRCC plays host for a 3 p.m. doubleheader in Lady Wildcat Stadium in Poplarville. The Lady Wildcats return to action when they head to LSU-Eunice (La.) in Eunice, La., Tuesday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader before opening MACJC South Division play at Hinds CC in Raymond Thursday, March 1, in a 1 p.m. twin bill.