No. 12 Indians split on the road with No. 7 Meridian

MERIDIAN, Miss. – The No. 12 Indians opened conference play on the road and earned a split defeating No. 7 Meridian, 10-3 in game one before falling 5-4 in game two.

Game 1: Indians 10, Meridian 3

The Indians (14-2-1, 1-1 MACJC) fell behind 1-0 early and trailed until the fifth, when Austin Powell (Star City, Ark) scored as Kyle Crigger (Corinth) bunted for a base hit.

As the game progressed tied at 1-1, the Indians exploded for nine runs in the final three frames to take a big 10-1 lead.

Justin Medlin (Ripley) broke the tie in the seventh with an RBI single and later scored on a Lane Domino (Fulton) double. Domino later scored on a sacrifice fly and Jacob Hall (Petal) scored on a wild pitch to complete the four-run seventh.

A double by Crigger scored the Indians lone run in the eighth, but the Tribe pushed across four more runs in the ninth highlighted by a two-run single by Jackson Lancaster (Corinth).

Meridian plated two runs in the final frame but the Indians held on the get the 10-3 win.

Houston Harding (Walls) improved to 5-0 this season as he threw eight innings allowing only one run on three hits and striking out eight.

Game 2: Meridian 5, Indians 4

The Indians scored three runs in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead, but Meridian answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to pick up the win and force the doubleheader split.

Trailing 2-1, the Indians took advantage of a pair of error that allowed two runs to score and plated their third run on an errant throw on a pickoff attempt.

Meridian put the bat on the ball in the bottom of the frame pulling within one on a run scoring single and then hit a two-run home run to take the lead.

The Indians return to Roy Cresap Field Tuesday for another conference doubleheader with East Mississippi that is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

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