FULTON, Miss. – The No. 6 ICC softball team swept No. 3 Copiah-Lincoln Community College to stay in the chase for the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) regular season championship on Saturday.
Game 1: No. 6 ICC 7, No. 3 Co-Lin 4
In the first game of the day, McKenzie Patterson (Corinth) hit a grand slam to right field to give the Indians (18-4, 10-2 MACCC) a 7-1 lead over the Wolves (17-3, 12-2 MACCC) in the fourth inning.
Patterson was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, three runs scored, and a grand slam.
Co-Lin scored three runs in the top of the sixth to make it a 7-4 contest but Emily Robinson (Springville, Ala.) closed to the door on the Wolves' rally to earn the save.
Madison Burrus (Hernando) improved to 5-3 on the season after giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out three in 5.1 innings of work. Robinson scattered three hits while giving up a run and striking out three batters in 1.2 innings. She leads the country with six saves.
Game 2: No. 6 ICC 4, No. 3 Co-Lin 3 – 9 innings
Burrus scored on a bases-loaded pass ball in the bottom of the ninth to help the Indians complete the sweep of the Wolves with a 4-3 win in extra innings.
Brianna Posey (Florence, Ala.) started the inning with a single to left before being replaced on the bases by Burrus. Hannah Henry (Brandon) delivered a one-out single to left field to move the winning run into scoring position. Connor Stevens (Amory) appeared to walk things off with a blast to centerfield but Madalyn Wilkinson made a game-saving catch just before crashing into the fence to rob Stevens of an extra base hit. Kaitie Boatner (Guntown) drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Patterson fell behind 0-2 in the count before a pass ball allowed Burrus to sprint home to give the Indians the win.
Posey and Henry combined for four of the Indians' six hits in the win.
Robinson (4-0) picked up the win in relief duty of Madison Jenkins after entering in the seventh. She gave up two hits and struck out two in three scoreless innings.