SCOOBA – Despite holding 5-2 and 5-3 leads in the bottom of the fourth inning in games one and two, Northwest was unable to hold onto either lead and was on the wrong end of doubleheader sweep at East Mississippi by 6-5 and 14-6 finals Friday afternoon. 

Northwest fell to 23-11 overall and 11-9 in the north and is in serious jeopardy of missing the state tournament for only the second time (2008) in head coach Mike Rowan's 10 seasons.

Meri Morgan Fortune hit a two-out pinch-hit walk-off bloop single to centerfield to give EMCC a 6-5 win in the opener before the Lady Lions exploded for 14 runs off 17 hits in the finale to sweep the twinbill in six.  

Leading 5-2 in the fourth in game one thanks to home runs by Chelsey Gilliam (pictured) and Rachel Kelly and RBIs by Carlie Jenkins and Malea Dillon, EMCC tied it at 5-5 in the bottom half on two swings of the bat by Halie Green and Misty Richard.

Neither team scored the ensuing two innings and the score remained tied going to the seventh.

Northwest didn't score in its half of the seventh and the game looked to be heading to extra innings with two quick outs in the bottom half. But Richard singled, was sacrificed to second and scored three batters later off Fortune's bloop single to center for the walk-off win.

Amelia LaVergne improved to 8-5 in the circle with the win, while Casey Baddley fell to 9-5 overall.  

EMCC jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two in game two, but Northwest was able to tie it at 3-3 in the third thanks to a pair of hits and three Lady Lion errors in the inning.

Jenkins' RBI-double with one down in the fourth put Northwest on top 4-3 and Dillon would add another run a batter later off a sacrifice fly to left. 

Richard, who scored the winning run in the opener, drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth for EMCC and it was all Lady Lions after that as the floodgates opened up. Green hit another two-run home run as part of a six-run inning and EMCC led 9-5 after four.  

Tori Turnipseed would come around to score off an error in the fifth with two outs to make it 9-6 before the Lady Lions added five more over the fifth and sixth innings to pull away for the 14-6 run-rule win.

Nine different Lady Lions had a hit in the game two victory, with seven of the nine with multiple hits.

Northwest was out-hit 25-13 in the doubleheader sweep.

The Rangers will step out of conference play on Monday, traveling to Southwest Tennessee at 2 p.m.