WESSON – Trailing in the later innings in both games at Copiah-Lincoln on Saturday, Northwest rallied with a five-run seventh inning in the opener and then scored six over the final two innings in the nightcap to sweep the Wolfpack by 6-2 and 7-5 finals.
Northwest stretched its winning streak to four games while improving to 16-10 overall and 8-6 in MACJC play. Co-Lin fell to 7-18 overall and 2-8 in conference play.
(Game 1) With Co-Lin clinging to a 1-0 lead after six innings and
Colt Smith and Cole Langdon battling it out on the mound, Northwest plated five runs off two hits and two Wolfpack errors in the seventh to pull away for a 6-2 win.
Co-Lin broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth, using back-to-back Ranger errors to plate Jordan Antley.
Hunter Wilson started Northwest's big seventh inning by reaching on an error, advancing to second on a wild pitch and then scoring off
Aaron Campbell's RBI-double.
Jamell Newson drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Rangers their first lead, 2-1, and was followed by a sac fly from
Jake McPhail and RBI-single by Wilson, making it 5-1 Northwest.
Co-Lin got a run back in the bottom half on Kody Smith's RBI-single but
Cody Cooper would respond with a sac fly in the eighth, scoring Campbell, to answer the run and give the Rangers a 6-2 win.
Smith scattered three hits, two runs (one earned), two strikeouts and two walks to improve to 3-1 while
J.R. Miller tossed the final two scoreless frames to preserve the win. Langdon (2-1) allowed five runs (one earned) off two hits with four strikeouts in the loss in 6.1 innings.
Wilson and Campbell were responsible for four of the Rangers' five hits in the game.
(Game 2) Trailing 4-1 after five innings and down to its final six outs, Northwest took advantage of an infield error to plate four in the sixth and then got the game-winning single from
Tanner Lloyd in the seventh to rally for a 7-5 victory.
With the bases loaded and two down, McPhail hit a hard ground ball to second, which would've been the final out of the sixth, that rolled right under the glove of the Co-Lin second baseman and allowed two to score. Wilson then stepped up and drilled a single into left-center to score a pair, giving Northwest a 5-4 lead.
The Wolfpack tied it up with a sac fly in the bottom half of the sixth off reliever
Austin Towles, making it 5-5 heading to the final inning.
After two quick outs in the Rangers' half of the seventh,
Jamell Newson's single kept the inning alive and put runners at the corners with two down. Lloyd stepped up and hit a blooper to center that scored Campbell and Newson would also come around to score after the center fielder bobbled the ball, making it 7-5 Northwest.
Koby Busby shut then shut the door in the seventh, inducing a 4-6-3 double play after a hit-by-pitch to record his third save of the year and ninth of his career. Towles (2-0) earned the win in 0.2 innings of work.
Both teams finished with nine hits apiece. Newson, Wilson and
LeeMarcus Boyd had two hits each. Wilson extended his career-long hitting streak to 19 games and Boyd has now reached base safely in 40 consecutive games.
Northwest will return home on Tuesday, playing host to Mississippi Delta for a pair of games. First pitch set for 3 p.m.
