Booneville, MS – Northeast Mississippi's two games against the East Mississippi Lions couldn't have gone much differently Wednesday afternoon with the Tigers feeling what it was like on both sides of a run rule decision. East Mississippi held Northeast to three runs in game one for a 13-3 loss in seven innings before the Tigers powered back in game two for a dominant 12-1 win.
Brody Winemiller kicked off the game with a solo home run in the first at bat of the contest to push Northeast in front by one after the first inning. Pitching for the Lions however stepped up big in the second, striking out three straight batters for the Tigers before scoring four runs in the bottom of the inning to take over the lead 4-1. Winemiller stepped back up for his second at bat and ended up with the same result as his first with another bomb beyond the fences to cut the deficit down to two. East Mississippi responded with a pair of runs in the sixth and duplicated it in the seventh to move up 9-2 entering the eighth. Hank Eaton made history for the Tigers in the top of the inning with an RBI single to left field to drive in Kieran Coleman for Eaton's 56th RBI of the season to set the single season record. Despite setting records and knocking out some homers, it was not enough to stop the Lions who forced a run rule in the bottom of the eighth off two more runs for a 13-3 finish.
Key Stats from Game 1:
- Northeast pitching had a combined seven strikeouts with starter MJ Parimore striking out three and Jackson Moore coming in from the bull pen and striking out two.
- Winemiller went 2-for-4 at the plate in game one with two runs, two home runs, and two RBI.
Scoring started early and often for the Tigers in game two with five runs in the first inning to push ahead and never looked back. Cooper Davis drove in Conner McKnatt for the first run of the inning with Easton Fesmire driving in another pair off a 2-RBI single to right field to make it three while a pair of walks with bases loaded propelled Northeast's lead to 5-0 over the Lions. A solo dinger in the bottom of the inning put East Mississippi on the board for their only run of game two with the Tigers silencing their roar the rest of the way. Coleman hammered out a solo bomb in the third to make it a five-run lead again before a six-run inning off of four run scoring hits in the fourth put the lead in double figures and enforce the run rule 12-1 for a series split.
Key Stats from Game 2:
- Otto Hyche recorded his fourth win of the 2026 season, pitching in all five innings while allowing only one run and striking out five batters.
- Coleman went 2-for-2 at the plate with two runs, a home run, and three RBI.
- Eaton went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double while McKnatt went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Northeast now improves to 24-25 overall on the 2026 season with an 11-13 record in MACCC action. The Tigers will be back at The Plex on Saturday for their home finale with a doubleheader against Southwest with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 PM.