BOONEVILLE, Miss. – Northeast Mississippi Community College's softball team continued its charge to the top of the North Division with a sweep of Coahoma Community College on Sunday, April 7.
Northeast (15-8-1, 9-3 in North Division) knocked off Coahoma 9-0 in six innings before finding its offensive rhythm in the nightcap and dispatched the Lady Tigers 14-2 in a four-inning affair.
Northeast's sweep of Coahoma kept the Jody Long's Lady Tigers in contention for the top spot in the division standings. Currently, Northeast and Itawamba are the only teams with three losses in league play while East Mississippi sits at 10-4 and Northwest Mississippi holds down the fourth spot with a 7-5 record.
On Sunday, Northeast found offense in reserve Kiana Judon.
After starting the season 1-for-7 after seeing limited action, Judon went 3-for-5 against Coahoma and boosted her overall batting average to .333 on the year.
Judon knocked around a pair of singles in the Lady Tigers 9-0 opening game against Coahoma — the only Lady Tiger to have multiple hits — while scoring a run and driving in one. In the opener, Judon also walked and stole a base.
In the 14-2 nightcap, Judon was 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI and tacked on a walk for good measure.
On the day, Judon was 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBI, two walks and a stolen base for the Lady Tigers.
While Judon was turning in a solid offensive performance, Riverside, California native Bianca Chagolla was keeping the Coahoma bats in check.
Chagolla picked up both wins on the day throwing a complete game two-hitter in the opener while striking out four and amassed the win game two with a two-inning effort that saw the Lady Tiger freshman fan three while allowing just two hits in her second victory.
On the day, Chagolla went 2-0 while tossing eight innings, striking out seven and limiting Coahoma to just four hits on the day.
However, Chagolla had to make a one-run lead stand up for the majority of the opener against Coahoma.
Northeast tallied a run in the first as Ellen Tarrant's sacrifice fly scored Andrea Cutts, who had tripled with one down in the inning but the Lady Tigers couldn't muster another run until the fourth.
Nonetheless, when Northeast found its offense it did not take the Lady Tigers long in putting both games out of reach.
Northeast scored a combined 22 runs over a six-inning stretch – the last three frames of the first game and first three of the second game – in moving to 9-3 in the division.
Northeast sandwiched a four-run fourth in the opener with a pair of two-run innings before turning on the heat to start the second game with 13 runs in its first two at bats.
Kossuth's Dana Glissen provided the offensive punch in the opening frame of the nightcap as the Northeast freshman staked the visitors to a 6-0 lead that the Lady Tigers would never relinquish.
Glissen connected on her second home run of the season – a grand slam – that drove home Erin Dixson, Haleigh Moffet, courtesy runner Mirah Terry and herself with one out in the first.
Northeast will look to continue its momentum as it starts a stretch of 12 games in eight days on Tuesday, April 9 as the Lady Tigers host Holmes Community College at 2 p.m
After the North Division doubleheader against Holmes, Northeast steps out of league play for a pair of games against Dyersburg State (Tenn.) at Booneville City Park before heading to Senatobia a day later for a make-up doubleheader against Northwest Mississippi on Thursday, April 11 at 2 p.m
Northeast gets a day of rest on Friday, April 12 before six more games loom on the schedule. Northeast travels to Mississippi Delta on Saturday, April 13, makes the trek to Jackson State (Tenn.) on Monday, April 15 before returning home to face East Mississippi on Wednesday, April 17 at 3 p.m.