BOONEVILLE, Miss. – Northeast Mississippi Community College softball team capped its Spring Break with a sweep of Mississippi Delta Community College.
Northeast (11-6-1, 5-1 in North Division) saw sophomore pitcher Erin Dixson carry a perfect game into the fifth inning of the opener against the Lady Trojans and the Lady Tiger offense bashed out 21 hits in the 10-0, 7-2 sweep.
Northeast's two wins helped set the stage with a North Division showdown with East Mississippi Community College on Tuesday, March 19 as the Lady Lions enter at 4-0 in the North Division.
Dixson silenced the Lady Trojan bats for 4.1 innings before Mississippi Delta's Kelsey Catolius was able to drop a single into short center.
However, Dixson did not let the perfect game bid bother the Northeast sophomore as the Amherst, New York native finished the game with seven strikeouts in five innings of work and didn't allow a walk.
Andrea Cutts led the way for the Lady Tigers at the plate going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Cutts connected on her first home run of the year in the opening frame and came back and singled in the third.
Northeast put the game away with an eight-run third inning that saw the Lady Tigers send 12 batters to the plate.
Haleigh Moffett broke the 2-0 game open with her single to right field that chased home Cutts and Dixson and Erin Frazier's ball to short allowed Moffett to score when the Lady Trojans could not handle the hit.
Gracie Michael, Dana Glissen, Bianca Chagolla and Cutts all reached base safely in the next four at bats in moving the score to 9-0.
Michael's single to right drove home Ellen Tarrant while Glissen reached base after getting hit by a pitch.
Chagolla came through with a bases-loaded double to left field that allowed Frazier, Michael and Glissen to score while Cutts' single tallied Chagolla.
In the nightcap, Northeast's sophomore quartet of Cutts, Tarrant, Dixson and Chagolla combined for seven of the Lady Tigers hits and Chagolla and Dixson held the Lady Trojans in check allowing just two runs.
After Northeast captured a 3-1 lead through three, Mississippi Delta cut the lead down to a single run in the fourth and threatened to tie the game in the frame.
However, Chagolla would get Terri Warren to pop out to short to end the inning.
Northeast wasted little time in putting the game out of reach in the fifth and sixth innings.
Cutts added an insurance run with her single to right in the fifth and the Lady Tigers tacked on three more in the sixth as the Lady Tigers pieced together four straight hits with two outs in the frame.
Glissen started off the hit barrage with a double to left while Chagolla followed with a single.
Back-to-back singles by Cutts and Dixson pushed the lead to 7-2 as Cutts' ball drove in Glissen and Chagolla and Dixson's shot tallied Cutts, who had moved up to third on a throw to the plate.
CUTLINE
Northeast Mississippi Community College second baseman Haleigh Moffett attempts to turn a double play against Mississippi Delta Community College on Saturday, March 16. Northeast swept the Lady Trojans 10-0, 7-2 to advance to 5-1 in the North Division.