ELLISVILLE- The Hinds Community College Eagles baseball team continues to produce victories in the early part of their season as they added a pair of wins yesterday (Mar. 21) against the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) 3rd ranked Jones County Junior College Bobcats on the road in Ellisville. The victories against Jones have the Eagles at a mark of 15 - 3 overall and sets them at 3 - 1 in conference play.
 
Game one of the double header was a back-and-forth heavy weight fight that saw the Eagles edge out the Bobcats 6-5 in extra innings. The Eagles came out swinging in the top of the first collecting three hits, including doubles by sophomores Andrew Beesley (Natchez) and Staton Todd (Clinton), which brought home three runs. The Bobcats fought back to tie the game in the 5^th inning which began the back-and-forth affair between the teams as both teams scored runs in the 7^th and 9^th innings. The scoring for the 7^th and 9^th innings featured solo homeruns by Todd and freshman Cole Whitfield (Greenwood) which seemed to set the team for victory. However, after some timely hitting by the Bobcats, the Eagles were forced to push home another run on a sacrifice fly by Beesley in the 10^th inning. The 6^th run of the game would be all that sophomore reliever Patrick Hodges (Terry) would need to seal the deal on the mound for the Eagles.
 
The second contest would feature a pitchers' duel in which both teams would only score one run a piece until the 6^th and 7^th when the Eagles delivered three runs to give them a 4 - 1 win. Sophomore Caleb Morgan (Grenada) and freshman Josh Banes (Learned) would combine to throw seven innings allowing zero earned runs and only four hits while striking out eight bobcats in the 7-inning game. Sophomore Carson Klepzig (Olive Branch) would bring home the game-winning run in the 6^th inning with a two-out RBI single. Klepzig also made an impact at catcher for the Eagles as he threw out three runners during the double-header. The game also featured a homerun from freshman Ian Ladner (Brandon) bringing his total to six on the season.

The Eagles have shown solid numbers at the plate and on the mound on the year. The team is currently ranked 5^th in the country for team batting average with a .382 batting average. The Hinds offense is also ninth in the NJCAA for team on-base percentage (OBP) with a .467 OBP. Highlighting the offensive stats for the Eagles are Beesley, who is hitting an impressive average of .538, and Todd, who is 2^nd in the country with 11 doubles. The Eagles are also setting high marks on the mound with a team earned-run average (ERA) of 2.36, which is good for 2^nd in the NJCAA for teams with over 100 recorded innings.
 
The Hinds baseball team still has a number of games to play in their season and will take on the Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC) Bears in a double-header at Joe G. Moss Field in Raymond on Saturday, March 24.Game times are at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Eagles are hoping to avenge their previous 5 - 6 loss to the Bears and gain some momentum before relaunching back into conference play with a double-header at Meridian Community College on March 27.
 
The Hinds baseball home games can be watched via live-stream on the Hinds athletics website, www.hindsccsports.com, by clicking on "watch live" icon on the home page.
 
Fans can follow the games and find updates on the team on Twitter by following Hinds baseball at @HindsCC_BB.
 
All fans are welcome to join the Eagles for home games at Joe G. Moss Field in Raymond to watch as the team on their journey to contend for a championship.