ELLISVILLE – Northwest dropped a pair of close games at conference-leading Jones County on Friday, squandering a six-run lead over the final four innings to drop the opener in 10 innings, 8-6, before a 4-2 loss in the nightcap.
JCJC improved to 24-2 and 7-1 in the MACJC with the sweep while Northwest fell to 12-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
(Game 1) Northwest rode the arm of sophomore
Colt Smith for eight solid innings and led 6-3 heading to the ninth before a blown save and then a walk-off, two-run home run in the 10th sealed a come-from-behind win for the Bobcats.
Smith and JCJC starter Ben Stiglets were locked in a pitcher's duel for the first five innings.
Ryan Skalnik's two-out, two-run single to left in the fourth broke a scoreless tie and gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
Northwest tacked on four more runs in the sixth, chasing Stiglets with the bases loaded and nobody out. Will Brand came on in relief and was welcomed by a two-run double by Skalnik, RBI-groundout from
LeeMarcus Boyd and
Aaron Campbell RBI-double, making it 6-0 Rangers.
Clint Sasser's solo home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth scratched across the first run for JCJC and they'd follow with a single run in the seventh on a passed ball and another in the eighth on Erick Hoard's RBI-triple to center.
Koby Busby entered with a 6-3 lead in the ninth and quickly got the first two outs before running into trouble. A hit-by-pitch and single put the tying run at the plate in pinch hitter Marcus Hardy who drilled a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to tie the game at 6-6 and force extras.
After Northwest went down in order in the 10th,
J.R. Miller relieved Busby in the bottom half. JCJC only needed two pitches, getting a leadoff single and walk-off two-run jack from Hoard to center field for the 8-6 victory.
Smith's gutsy outing was all for naught, scattering seven hits, two earned runs, two strikeouts and four walks in eight innings of work for a no-decision. Miller took the loss to fall to 2-2.
Reed Michel tossed the final two innings for JCJC, not allowing a run and striking out three for the win.
Both teams finished with 11 hits. Skalnik was 3-for-6 with four RBIs and Campbell finished 3-for-5 with an RBI.
(Game 2) JCJC used the offensive momentum in the opener to take a quick 4-0 lead after two innings in the finale. Northwest only threatened twice, leaving the bases loaded in the second and using a two-run homer by Skalnik in the fifth, before falling 4-2.
A two-out rally in the second, after singles by
David Herrington and
Hunter Wilson and walk to
Jake McPhail, fell just short after
Hunter Bishop's hard-hit ball to center was caught on the warning track.
JCJC capitalized on its opportunity in the bottom half, however, using back-to-back sacrifice flies and a solo home run by Mason Strickland to make it 3-0. Jonathan Parker added an RBI-double in the fourth to make it 4-0.
After two fly outs to start the Ranger half of the fifth,
Jamell Newson's two-out triple kept the frame alive before Skalnik's line drive two-run dinger to left cut the Bobcat lead in half at 4-2.
Neither team crossed the plate the final two innings as JCJC came away with a pair of two-run wins.
Northwest will return home on Tuesday, playing host to Itawamba in a 3 p.m. doubleheader.
