Scooba, Miss. - The Northeast Mississippi Community College baseball team could have moped or been discouraged following a tough loss in the opening matchup of Saturday's doubleheader. Instead, the Tigers handily took care of business.
Northeast rebounded in the second contest of the day to defeat nationally ranked East Mississippi Community College 18-4 at Gerald Poole Field to earn a split in the regular season series with the Lions.
The triumph by the Tigers secured the runner-up position in the rugged Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division and a home playoff series for the second year in a row.
East Mississippi, who is ranked No. 7 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) poll, edged Northeast by only one game in the league standings. The Lions claimed the MACJC North Division title with a 14-11 victory in the lid lifter.
"I was really proud of our kids for the way they bounced back," said Northeast head coach Kent Farris. "It's just good to get a win and not have to go on the road. I don't care what the deal is, you want to play at home."
Trent Turner helped the Tigers set the tone early in the nightcap after the initial three batters of the contest reached base on a pair of walks and Heath Wood's double.
The freshman from Brandon then connected on a one ball, one strike offering from East Mississippi starter Cody Allsup and crushed it over the left-centerfield wall. The inaugural grand slam of Turner's collegiate career gave Northeast an early 4-0 lead.
Drew Wray was hit by a pitch moments later and scored on Luke Stanley's fielder's choice to give the Tigers (25-17, 17-7) a quick 5-0 advantage.
The Lions cut their deficit to 5-2 in the bottom half of the first on RBI singles by Blake Key and Codie Silver.
But Northeast plated three more runs in the third to push the matchup out of reach for East Mississippi. Riley Alef and Wood both had run scoring hits in the frame to make it 8-2 in favor of the Tigers.
Northeast broke things open by adding a combined 10 runs in the fourth and fifth innings to ensure that the game ended early due to the run rule.
Ben Foster, Jack Hurdle and Stanley showed the patience that Tiger batters possess and took three straight walks to open the fourth.
Jordan Montgomery poked a single to the opposite field while Wood followed with his second RBI of the contest on a sacrifice fly.
Easton Hall then capped the fourth with a RBI double over rightfielder Brandon Acker's head. The second extra base hit of the afternoon for the New Albany product extended Northeast's lead to 12-2.
Stanley sealed the triumph in the fifth with his first home run as a Tiger. The Lafayette County High School graduate lifted a ball over the heightened fence in left field to plate Hurdle and up the Northeast advantage to 14-4.
"I haven't felt anything like that in a long time," said Stanley. "That felt good finishing it right there. It was awesome."
Hall had a RBI single later in the frame that brought Colby Williams home, while Turner collected his fifth RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield.
Wray concluded the Tigers' impressive offensive output with a two RBI single that scored courtesy runner Caleb Goff and Hall.
Colton Caver hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the final runs of the matchup for East Mississippi (31-11, 18-6).
Overall, Northeast batters took an impressive 15 free bases against the Lions in the regular season finale. The Tigers also compiled 12 hits against five East Mississippi hurlers with Allsup (0-1) charged with the decision.
Ethan Taylor (4-2) worked around his rough first inning to grab the win. The Arkansas Tech University signee struck out three and walked only one in three frames on the mound.
Northeast started the opener on fire and grabbed an 8-0 lead in the fourth after two RBI hits by Foster and Hurdle plus a solo home run by Hall.
But the Lions scored 14 runs over a period of four innings from the fourth to the eighth to clinch the come-from-behind win. Caver had two long balls while Dylan Vuncannon accounted for the final margin with a sacrifice fly.
After East Mississippi leaped ahead 12-11 after seven frames, the Tigers had a chance at a comeback themselves. Wray took a four-pitch walk to load the bases with two outs in the eighth.
However, Conner Burton recorded a strikeout to leave all three runners stranded and secure his seventh save of the campaign.
Andrew Crane (6-1) earned the victory in relief for the Lions while Townsend Myers (3-1) was the hard-luck loser for Northeast with 1.1 frames out of the bullpen.
Cody Bo Dillard garnered his seventh start of the season and went 4.2 innings with five strikeouts and four earned runs allowed. Dustin Allen and Tanner Whitaker made scoreless relief appearances as well.
The Tigers now turn their attention to a meeting with Pearl River Community College in the first round of the 2014 MACJC State Playoffs. The best-of-three series gets underway on Friday at 1 p.m. while games two and three, if necessary, are set for a noon start on Saturday at Harold T. White Field.