MARION, Ala. - The Marion Military Institute wanted it a little more than the Indians on Saturday. The Tigers (7-5) handed the tenth-ranked Indians (6-4) a 3-2 loss before scoring a pair of runs on a pair of two-out errors in the bottom of the seventh to complete the sweep with an 8-7 win in walk-off fashion.
The doubleheader sweep is only the fifth in the past 210 games and the first since the Indians lost a pair of one-run games to No. 2 Des Moines Area (Iowa) Community College on March 12, 2018.
Game 1: Marion Military 3, No. 10 Indians 2 [Click here for highlights]
The Indians cashed in on a Marion error to take a 1-0 lead when Rachel Sternisha (Olive Branch) scored in the top of the first. Marion rallies with three runs on two hits, a sacrifice fly, and an error in the bottom of the fourth.
ICC made it a one-run game when Hope Harbin (Columbus) singled for the second time in the game and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the fifth. Ellie Meine (Olive Branch) reached on a single to put the tying run on base in the sixth but was left stranded.
Harbin went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the loss.
Game 2: Marion Military 8, No. 10 Indians 7 [Click here for highlights]
Mattie Meine (Olive Branch) went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and a RBI. She was a home run away from hitting for the cycle in the game two loss.
Mattie put the Indians on the board in the top of the first when she ripped a stand-up triple to start the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sternisha. The Tigers answered in the bottom half of the inning after a controversial call at home opened the door for a three-run rally.
With no outs in the inning, the Indians threw the ball home to get cut down the tying run on the force out. Despite the throw beating the runner home by three steps, the umpire signaled the runner safe and would not appeal the call to the infield umpire. The Tigers snuck a clutch two-out single up the middle to plate two runs to take the 3-1 lead before the Indians could pick up a fourth out to end the inning.
The Indians answered with three runs in the top of the third. Harbin singled to start the inning and scored on a double by Mattie. Jessica Davis (Cumberland) singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sternisha before Mattie came around to score on single by Samantha Conley (Mandeville, La.) for the Indians to take a 4-3 advantage.
Davis went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.
The Indians went up 7-3 when Sternisha ripped a bases-loaded double to clear the bases in the fourth. Marion answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning and another in the sixth to make it a one-run contest.
The Tigers walked it off in the bottom of the seventh after scoring two runs on back-to-back throwing errors by the Indians.
The Indians are scheduled to return to action on Friday, February 22 at Snead State (Ala.) Community College against Walters State (Tenn.) Community College at 12:00 and host Snead State at 2:00 in Boaz, Ala.
For more information on ICC softball, follow the Indians on Twitter (@LetsGoICC).
