By Staff
From staff reports
MARCH 26, 2001
The Meridian Community College baseball team survived a ninth-inning rally to knock off homestanding Delgado 11-10 Sunday afternoon in the decisive contest of a three-game Miss-Lou Conference series.
Trailing 11-10 with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Delgado loaded the bases and threatened to take the lead.
But Eagle skipper Russ McNickle brought in Michael Goodson, who lured a ground ball to shortstop Lance Dawkins.
Dawkins was able to field the ball and connect with Matt McClesky for the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and secure the win for the Eagles.
MCC is now 20-9 overall, 2-1 in the conference.
The Eagles fell behind early in the game as Delgado took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and added a pair of runs in the second.
The MCC bats came alive in the third, though, as five Eagles crossed home plate to even the score at 5-5.
MCC added a run in the fourth and held a 6-5 lead heading into the top of the sixth.
There, Delgado answered with four runs, only to see MCC scored a pair in the inning, as well to make it a 9-8 game.
The seventh inning saw Delgado score once while the Eagles brought in two more, leaving the contest tied at 10-10 heading into the eighth.
MCC reliever Kurt McLellan, who picked up the win to improve to 5-2, and the Eagle defense were able to shut down Delgado in the top of the inning, and Dustin Kliburn's RBI single in the bottom half gave MCC the lead for good.
McLellan, who came on in the second and pitched 6 1/3 innings for the Eagles gave up five runs on five hits and struck out five Delgado batters while only walking one.
Francis Thorning suffered the loss for Delgado.
Along with the go-ahead single in the eighth, Kliburn had a homerun in the game.
Other notable batters for the Eagles were Tyler Scarborough (2-5, double, single), Trav Hopkins (double), Justin McMullin (double, single) and Rory Thornton (double).
MCC returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Tuscaloosa to take on Shelton State. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.