Co-Lin sweeps Hinds in South Division twinbill

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, March 27, 2002

WESSON – Coming into Tuesday’s South Division showdown withHinds, the Copiah-Lincoln Wolves desperately needed something goodto happen to them after having a weekend full of setbacks. TheWolves used the pitching and hitting of Cole Zumbro to sweep theEagles 9-2 and 3-2 at Sullivan Field.

The Wolves, (15-9, 5-5) and 2-0 in Region 23 play, came into thegame struggling after losing 3 of their last 4 games. Besides thelosses on the field, the Wolves endured another misfortune off thediamond.

Sophomore pitcher and Mississippi State signee Derek Atkins torethe MCL in his elbow and will miss the rest of the season. Atkinsestablished an undefeated 4-0 mark before his elbow injury endedhis season.

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The Wolves regrouped instead of falling back even more in thestandings. Co-Lin set the tone early and often against theEagles.

Co-Lin 9, Hinds 2

Hinds (14-12, 3-5) and 3-3 in region play, fell behind 2-0before scoring their first run in the third off a Chris Reed singlethat sent Chris Carpenter home.

Co-Lin answered the Hinds run in their half of the third with afour-run sprint. It was highlighted by doubles from sophomores RyanDavis, Matt Lea and David Gray.

The Eagles added another run in the fifth off a Phillip Ricksright field blast. Ricks hit cut the Wolves lead to 6-2.

The Wolves followed with two of their own. Co-Lin used RBIsingles from Lea and sophomore shortstop Kyle Beall to take acommanding 8-2 lead. The Wolves scored their final run in the sixthas Zumbro ended the game for the Wolves on the mound.

“We set the tone early,” said Co-Lin coach Keith Case. “We swungthe bats pretty good and we played good defense.”

Zumbro picked up the win with six strikeouts and three walks.Zumbro pitched a full seven innings, allowing five hits and twoearned runs.

Suffering the loss was Hinds freshman Chris Reed with twostrikeouts and three walks.

At the plate, Carpenter led the Eagles with a double.

For the Wolves, Arlandus Brown and Kyle Beall led with twosingles and one stolen base apiece. Ryan Davis had two doubles.Seth Lofton and Chase Coley added a single and a double apiece. Leadoubled and singled.

Co-Lin 3, Hinds 2

In Game Two, Co-Lin fell behind 2-0 off an error and aDaniel Tackett double that sent Ricks home.

The Wolves entered the second inning with visions oftaking the lead as Zumbro cleared the air with a game-tying two-runhomer. Co-Lin added a single from Beall that sent pinch runnerTravis Smith home for a 3-2 lead. Smith was running in place ofsophomore catcher David Gray who reached base all three at-batswith walks.

During the remainder of the game, a defensive struggletook place. Hinds pitcher Dusty Keys and Co-Lin hurler KendallPoole exchanged scoreless innings the rest of the way until Pooleended the game in the seventh with two ground outs and a strikeoutof Chris Reed.

“Kendall and Cole both pitched well today,” added Case.”We needed the guys to step up after losing Derek. Cole’s hit inthe second was big for us. It changed the momentum to ourside.”

Zumbro led the batters with a homer. Beall, Coley andDavis added a single apiece.

For the Eagles, Tackett led with a triple.

Suffering the loss was Wilhelms with two strikeouts andone walk. Keen finished with six strikeouts and sixwalks.

Collecting the win was Poole with eight strikeouts andthree walks.

The Wolves resume play Friday at 1 p.m. at LSU-Eunicefor a Region 23 doubleheader.

@Linescore:CO-LIN 9, HINDS 2

Hinds

001

010

0 – 0

2

1

Co-Lin

114

021

x –

9

13

0

@Bbstandings: Reed, Stephens (3), Jordan (5), Roberts(6) and Sherman; Zumbro and Gray. WP – Zumbro (3-1). LP – Reed(1-2). HR – Ricks (H). 2B – Davis (CL) 2, Gray (CL), Lea (CL),Lofton (CL), Coley (CL). Multiple hits – Coley (CL) 2, Davis (CL)2, Lofton (CL) 2, Lea (CL) 2, Beall (CL) 2, Brown (CL)2.

@Linescore:CO-LIN 3, HINDS 2

Hinds

110

000

0 –

2

4

2

Co-Lin

030

000

x –

3

4

2

@Bbstandings: Wilhelms, Keen (2), Creol (6) and Sherman:Poole and Gray. WP – Poole (1-1). LP – Wilhelms (2-2). HR – Zumbro(CL). 3B – Tackett (H).