By Staff
From staff reports
May 19, 2003
CLINTON Emory University scored twice in the top of the ninth inning on a pair of bang-bang plays at the plate to take a 6-4 win and knock host Mississippi College out of the NCAA Division III Central Regional Tournament.
Emory, now 35-13 on the season, will face Carthage (Wis.) College at 11 a.m. for the championship and the right to advance to the NCAA Division III World Series in Appleton, Wis. If Carthage beats the Atlanta-based school, then the two will play an if-necessary game at 2 p.m.
The MC Choctaws, which end the season at 34-15, beat Millsaps 10-3 in Sunday morning's opener to earn the right to face Emory in the nightcap. Carthage eliminated Wartburg (Iowa) College 5-2 in the day's second contest.
Mississippi College tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth when Hal Thompson, an East Central Community College product, walked with two outs. Jason Curry then hit a long fly ball to the base of the left field wall, but it was caught to end the threat and the game.
MC took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when former Lamar School and Meridian Community College standout Chris Knight drove in Thompson, who had doubled, with a sacrifice fly.
Emory scored single runs in the second and fourth to go up 2-1 before MC tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Knight started the rally with a one-out walk and later scored on a single by Chas Evans. MC took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Thompson singled to start the inning and eventual scored on a sacrifice fly by former Neshoba Central and ECCC standout Turk Stovall.
The Eagles of Emory scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to go up 4-3.
Knight led off the bottom of the eighth with a double for MC and Trey Rein came in as a pinch runner. After a fly out by Kent Chamblee, also an ECCC product, moved Rein to third, he scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Marc Chisholm.
Thompson, Knight, Chisholm and Johnny Bernhard had two hits each for the Choctaws.
In the day's opener, Millsaps outhit the Choctaws 14-8, but MC scored four times in the top of the sixth to break open a tight 6-3 contest and the Choctaw Bullpen of Daniel Wright and Dereck Tillman held the Majors scoreless the rest of the way.
Five Majors had two hits each in the game, but all 14 of the hits were singles.
The big sixth-inning was highlighted by a two-run single by Thompson. He finished the game with two hits.
Stovall had a sacrifice fly in the third inning to tie the game at 2-2 and then belted a solo homer in the fifth that stretched the winners' lead to 6-3 at that point.