RAYMOND – Hinds Community College baseball took game two of their series against East Central Community College 6-0 behind a dominant performance on the mound by
Connor Nation (Madison). Game two began after game one, but it was postponed until Thursday at 4 p.m. due to several lightning delays and heavy showers.
Nation went the distance in his fourth win of the season. The Madison native gave up no runs while scattering only four hits and striking out four batters.
Head coach
Dan Rives praised his team's defense and timely hitting.
"That was a much-needed victory today, led by
Connor Nation, who was outstanding," Rives said. "He mixed all three pitches effectively and kept a very good offense off balance all day. He was also backed by our best defensive effort of the year, as we were very clean and made some big time plays on that side. I thought the fourth inning was huge for us, as we gained a little bit of a cushion by getting three runs with two outs. I was very proud of our effort all around today."
Game one
The Eagles got off to a tremendous start in game one by posting a three-run first inning.
Justin Williams (Madison) got the party started with a solo shot in his first at-bat.
Reed Kellum (Jackson) would walk to bring in the second run, and
Gavin Mink (Olive Branch) scored
Vantrel Reed (Vicksburg) on a sacrifice fly for the third run of the inning.
Hinds would then be held scoreless the rest of the ballgame and would eventually fall 8-3 behind a late push by the Warrior's offense.
Holland Townes (Ridgeland) got the start in game one and went six complete innings. On the day, Townes struck out seven batters while giving up 10 hits.
Kendrick Bershell (Vicksburg),
Jake-Riley Gunn (Hattiesburg),
Henry Lee (Jackson) and
Nasson Rodriguez (Madison) all pitched in game one.
Game two
Just like game one, the Eagles plated three runs in the first inning. Two runs came on two singles by Kellum and Mink. The other run in the first inning came from
Clayton Thurman (Vicksburg), who scored
Josh Rodriguez (Belleville, Nj) on a sacrificie fly.
The Eagles would score three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, which would prove to be all they needed to take game two.
Clay Benson (Monroe, La.) singled and scored Williams, and Reed hit a two-run homerun that scored Benson.
Up next
The Eagles are back in action Saturday when they host Coahoma Community College in Raymond for sophomore day. First pitch of game one is set for 2 p.m.
