SENATOBIA – A couple of bad breaks against Northwest was the difference in a split and a sweep on Saturday afternoon, as the visiting Co-Lin Lady Wolves swept a softball doubleheader over the 19th-ranked Rangers by 8-1 and 8-3 finals.
Co-Lin improved to 18-6 overall and 9-3 in conference play, while Northwest fell to 11-7 overall and 5-5 in the MACJC.
(Game 1) Kailey Walker's two-out, RBI-single gave Northwest a 1-0 lead after two before eight unanswered runs for the Lady Wolves, aided by four Ranger errors, allowed the visitors to win the opener.
Co-Lin scored two runs each in the third, fourth and fifth innings to lead 6-1 after five, taking advantage of a pair of missed calls on the field in the fifth.
An obvious called third strike on Co-Lin's Brittany Barbay, which would've been the final out in the fifth, was called a ball and she doubled to score two runs a pitch later.
Kayla Andrada was then robbed of a two-run double down the left field line in the bottom of the fifth, a four-run swing in the inning and the difference in a 6-1 game and 4-3 contest.
Diana Hobgood's two-run homer in the sixth was the knockout blow for the Lady Wolves, making the final 8-1.
Northwest finished with 10 hits in the loss, two apiece from
Allison Williams, Walker and
Tori Luke.
(Game 2) Northwest led 3-0 after three complete but once again gave up eight unanswered runs as Co-Lin swept the first meeting between the two teams since 2006.
Hailee Kolwyck scored off a wild pitch and Andrada's RBI-single to left scored
Erin Claire Stegall to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead after two. Kolwyck's two-out single then made it 3-0 after three.
No-hit by Kolwyck after three frames, Co-Lin's bats woke up in the fourth. Kaitlyn Taylor's sac fly, followed by a Hobgood single, made it a 3-2 game.
Hobgood struck again in the sixth, smashing a two-run homer to left to give Co-Lin its first lead, 4-3. Trevlyn Scott's pinch-hit, two-out RBI-single stretched the lead to 5-3.
Co-Lin then put it away in the seventh, as Kaitlyn Taylor blasted a three-run home run off reliever
Ashton Needham to make it an 8-3 final.
Taylor picked up both wins in the circle for Co-Lin on the day, allowing just one hit the final four innings in Game 2.
Northwest will look to bounce back on Tuesday, March 22, hosting Mississippi Delta for a conference doubleheader. The games were moved from Moorhead to Senatobia due to wet field conditions. First pitch at 2 p.m.
