Scooba, Miss. - Chelsea Buntin has been garnering attention across the Magnolia State for her pitching expertise, but her skills at the plate are not too shabby either.
Buntin led Northeast Mississippi Community College with three hits, two for extra bases on Thursday. However, it was not enough for the Tigers as East Mississippi Community College won both games of a doubleheader by scores of 19-5 and 14-7.
The freshman first baseman got the nightcap started with a bang. She blasted a solo home run to straightaway centerfield to give Northeast an early 1-0 advantage.
The long ball on the fifth pitch of the contest was the first at any level of softball for Buntin, who transitioned to a regular left-handed batting stance this year after serving as a slap hitter at Alcorn Central High School.
"Honestly, I love it because I'm doing good," said Buntin. "I feel great at the plate now. Every time I get a hit it just builds my confidence even more.
"The home run felt awesome. All I could do was smile. I'm so glad my family was here. I didn't want them to miss it."
With a pair of base knocks in game two, Buntin has hit safely in five straight outings and in 12 of her last 13 appearances. The leadoff batter for the Tigers currently holds team bests in batting average at .396 and on-base percentage with a .472.
The lead was short lived for Northeast, though, after a fielding error gave the Lions a 2-1 advantage. Jade Albritton followed the miscue with a three-run homer to make it 5-1 after two innings.
The Tigers bounced back in the fourth with six hits to jump ahead. Bre Agnew and Avery Springer had back-to-back singles to start the frame and advanced into scoring position on a groundout by Whittney Gee.
Shannon Goode then dropped a blooper that barely got past a running Kristen Mitchell at shortstop. The RBI single by New Albany's Goode cut Northeast's deficit to 5-3 with only one out in the inning.
Buntin came within inches of a grand slam moments later with a fly ball that landed just shy of the fence in centerfield. The double accounted for the third RBI of the day for Buntin, which was a career-high.
Trenisha King gave the Tigers a 6-5 lead with a two RBI opposite field single that plated courtesy runner Mirah Terry and pinch-runner Audrey Goss.
Bianca Chagolla capped the inning with a sacrifice fly that brought home Yasmeen Cooper to make it 7-5 in favor of Northeast.
But East Mississippi responded in the bottom half with nine unanswered runs. The Lions sent 15 ladies to the dish and had six base knocks, two of them RBI singles by Meri Morgan Fortune, in their turn at bat.
Northeast could not fully recover after the 48-minute fourth inning. The Tigers did not threaten again until the seventh when Chagolla walked and Agnew was hit by a pitch to begin the frame.
Tori Seymour, though, got three straight outs from that point to record her initial save of the season. Taylor Hackney (9-5) was the winner for the Lions with six earned runs conceded in four innings.
Chagolla (6-9) settled in and retired six of the last seven batters she faced, but took the loss following the rough fourth. The right-hander gave up only six earned runs with four strikeouts in a complete game effort.
In the opener, East Mississippi (23-15, 12-6) scored the initial 18 runs of the matchup through three frames on 15 hits and three untimely errors by Northeast.
The Tigers (15-23, 10-8) touched the scoreboard in the fourth. Avery Springer laced a ground ball up the middle for a RBI single that brought Chagolla home.
Cooper dropped a ball in front of the second baseman, who could not make a play for a run scoring hit. Haley Christian then connected on her second single of the afternoon that plated Springer to make it 18-3 in favor of the Lions.
Northeast added two more in the fifth when Cooper took a bases loaded walk and Becky Robinson scored Agnew on a fielder's choice, but Halie Green (10-7) wrapped up the run-rule shortened contest and grabbed the win.
Buntin (7-11) was the losing pitcher for the Tigers after allowing six earned runs on eight hits with three stirkeouts in 2.1 innings. King tossed the final 1.2 frames in relief.
"We had seven days off late in the season and that's supposed to be good, but it wasn't," said Northeast head coach Jody Long. "Against good hitting teams, you can't give them extra outs and that's what we did all day. I can't explain it."
Northeast hopes to rebound today (Friday, April 11) when it visits Coahoma Community College. First pitch of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division twinbill is set for 2 p.m. in Clarksdale.