By By Austin Bishop/Special To The Star
April 21, 2001
Meridian Community College needs to take just one of three games from visiting Bossier (La.) Parish Community College this weekend to clinch the Miss-Lou Conference baseball title.
The two teams meet in a doubleheader today at Scaggs Field on the MCC campus beginning at 2 p.m. then end the three-game set with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
If Bossier wins all three games, then the Cavaliers will win the Miss-Lou title and MCC will be second.
Meridian currently leads the conference with a 7-2 record, while Bossier and Delgado (La.) Community College are tied for second at 4-5. If Bossier wins one game from MCC, then the Cavs will finish in second and will earn a spot in the Region 23 Tournament in early May. The Eagles of MCC, now 30-13 on the year, have already secured a spot in that tournament with a three-game sweep of Delgado last week.
The Eagles took two of three from Bossier in Shreveport, La., earlier in the season.
Bossier comes into the game with a 38-10 record and is ranked No. 7 in the country by the NJCAA, up from No. 13 last week. MCC fell out of this week's poll. San Jacinto (Texas) is ranked No. 1 in the country in the latest poll.
One of the bright spots offensively for the Eagles this season has been the play of freshman third baseman Tyler Scarbrough.
The Eagles are hitting .309 as a team with Scarbrough leading the way with a .409 average.
Travis Garner, the lead-off man, is hitting .360. He has scored 46 runs this season and has a 127 for his career, which is a new school record. The old mark, held by Josh Hesse, was 124.
Garner also has 58 career stolen bases, just six short of the school record of 64 held by Randy Farmer. Garner leads the team with 17 steals this year, while Scarbrough has 15 and Josh Raggio and Rory Thornton have 13 each.
Dustin Cliburn is hitting .351 and has a team best 13 homers and 47 RBIs. Antion Gray is tied with Scarbrough for the team lead with 16 doubles each.
Brian Reed (5-1) and Martin LaRocca (6-2) are expected to start today's games on the mound for MCC, while Jason Wimberly (4-1) will likely get the nod on Sunday.