Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SENATOBIA – Playing its second Top 10 opponent of the season on Wednesday at Jim Miles Field, 15th-ranked Northwest split a doubleheader with previously unbeaten and 7th-ranked Jones County by 7-1 and 5-3 finals. 

Jones County moved to 15-1 on the season while Northwest moved to 9-5. 

Sophomore Chase Clark stole the show for the Rangers at the plate and sophomore Cody Waddell shined on the mound in an impressive game one win. Clark was a career-high 5-for-5 with two home runs, a double and four RBIs while Waddell worked seven innings of four-hit ball, struck out seven and allowed no runs.

Reigning MACJC and NJCAA Player of the Week Jay King plated the first run of the game with an RBI-single in the second inning, scoring pinch runner Brennan Pugh.

Northwest would stretch the lead to 3-0 in the fifth on back-to-back home runs by Kramer Hollenbach and Clark to start the inning off JCJC reliever Daniel Goff.

JCJC would pull within 3-1 in its half of the eighth when Tyler Graves hit a two-out, RBI-double to right that scored Chris Morgan after a leadoff walk. 

But the Rangers would then break it wide open in their half of the inning, scoring four runs, all with two outs, to pull away for a 7-1 win. Hollenbach had an RBI-single to score Stuart Chick and Clark belted his second home run of the game, a three-run bomb to right.

Waddell improved to 3-0 with a 0.37 ERA while J.R. Miller and Peter Barton closed it out. 

Northwest out-hit JCJC 14-7 in the win and handed the Bobcats their first loss of the year.

JCJC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the nightcap after 4 1/2 innings before the Rangers scored three unanswered to tie it heading to the seventh. 

In the seventh, Trent Giambrone hit an opposite field home run over the wall in right for the eventual game-winning run, his and the Bobcats' first of the year. They would add another on a passed ball. 

Northwest had a chance to tie or win it in the bottom half, putting the winning run at the plate. But Cole Barlow entered to get his team-leading fifth save of the year by forcing a 1-2-3 double play to end the game. 

Will Simon got the win (1-0) while Colin Liles (0-1) was tagged with the loss.

Northwest will host Northeast next Wednesday, March 12 in the north division opener for both teams.