No. 11 Softball hangs on to beat No. 8 East Central, 6-3

FULTON, Miss. – The No. 11 Indians picked up a 6-3 win over No. 8 East Central Community College Friday night to improve to 16-3 and 7-0 inside conference play.

Leading 5-0, the Indians saw the Warriors (14-5, 3-4 MACJC) rally with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. ICC answered when Haley Reid (Batesville), running for Macey Cox (Troy, Tenn.), stole second and scored on a double by Shelby Newsom (Cleveland) in the bottom half of the inning.

Both team went quietly in the sixth, but East Central made things interesting in the seventh.

Ali Gartman started the inning with a solo home run to left-center to make it a 6-3 contest. The Warriors loaded the bases with two outs in the inning before Bailie Springfield (Mantee) notched her fourth strikeout of the game to secure her ninth win of the season.

Springfield went the distance in the circle for the Indians. She gave up three runs, one earned, on seven hits and one walk while striking four of the 30 batters faced.

ICC picked up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first when Cori Childs (New Site) drew a walk and stole second before scoring on a single by Samantha Conley (Mandeville, La.). Meg Sullivan (Springville, Ala.) added the second run of the inning on a delayed steal.

The Indians took a 3-0 lead on a single by Cox that scored Conley, who walked and stole second to start the third inning.

ICC hung a pair of runs on the board in the fourth when Madison Carnes (Ecru) singled and scored on a single by Sullivan. Heads up base running by Childs gave the Indians a 5-0 lead. An errant throw into the field rolled between the catcher and third baseman, Childs sprinted home once the catcher committed to pick up the ball and left home unguarded.  

Childs finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases. ICC pounded out 11 hits with Sullivan and Carnes each adding a pair of hits in the win.

For more information on ICC softball, follow the Indians on Twitter (@LetsGoICC).