BOONEVILLE – Behind complete game pitching performances from
Peyton Plumlee and
Dalton Minton and timely hitting and defense from their supporting cast, Northwest swept a baseball doubleheader at Northeast on Tuesday by 6-3 and 2-1 finals to win its third straight conference road series.
Northwest improved to 23-13 overall and 15-7 in the MACJC, second in the conference standings with six games remaining (all at home). Northeast fell to 19-21 overall and 10-12 in conference play.
(Game 1) After falling behind 3-0 after the first inning, two runs by way of errors, Plumlee settled in and hung eight consecutive zeroes in his first career complete game as Northwest scored six unanswered for a 6-3 win.
Garrison Howell led off the Tigers' half of the first with a double and scored two batters later on Bailey Walker's RBI-single to short. Plumlee looked to induce an inning-ending groundout to second five pitches later but back-to-back errors at second and third kept the inning alive and allowed two more Tigers to score.
Northwest scratched a run back in the third on
LeeMarcus Boyd's sac fly and then took its first lead in the fourth. After back-to-back outs,
Cody Cooper's single through the right side started a big two-out rally.
David Herrington singled,
Jamell Newson reached on an error and
Aleck Hobson then walked before
Jake McPhail's two-run single to left put the Rangers on top, 4-3.
From there, it was the Plumlee show. The Mississippi State signee retired 25 of the final 28 Tigers he faced and ended the game with a strikeout of Cole Camp, his eighth of the game against zero walks. Plumlee improved to 5-1 in a career-high nine innings, scattering four hits and one earned run on 132 pitches (91 strikes).
Northwest added single runs in the sixth and ninth, with
Hunter Bishop scoring both on a wild pitch and a balk.
(Game 2) Making his ninth appearance of the year and seventh start, Minton earned his first collegiate decision with a complete game six-hitter, allowing only one run and retiring 12 of the final 15 Tigers in order.
Northwest took a 1-0 lead in the second on Herrington's perfectly executed squeeze bunt to first, scoring
Aaron Campbell, before the Tigers knotted the game at 1-1 in the third on Walker's RBI-single to right.
Boyd's two-out double in the fifth led to the go-ahead run for the Rangers, with
Hunter Wilson's high chopper to short scoring Boyd for the 2-1 lead.
Minton worked around a one-out single in the fifth, retired the side in order in the sixth and got another double play in the seventh to setup the game's final out. Campbell made a diving grab in right on a shallow hit ball, preserving the 2-1 win and two-game sweep.
Boyd and Herrington had two hits apiece in the nightcap, with Boyd extending his reached base streak to 50 games.
Northwest will return home on Saturday, April 23, playing host to Hinds in a 2 p.m. doubleheader. Click
HERE to watch.
