SENATOBIA – With playoff seeding on the line Sunday afternoon in an NJCAA Top 20 matchup, Meridian edged Northwest 5-4 and 4-3 to sweep the doubleheader and hand the Rangers just their fourth and fifth home losses at Jim Miles Field.
Meridian improved to 36-8 overall and 19-7 in conference play, while Northwest fell to 26-16 and 18-10 in the MACJC.
Northwest has clinched the No. 4 seed in the first round of the playoffs, a best-of-3 series, and will host No. 5-seeded Hinds May 6-7.
Northwest committed eight errors over the two games, an abnormal amount for a team fielding .960 on the season coming in. Meridian was able to capitalize on the miscues, with only three of the nine runs allowed by the Ranger pitching staff earned. The Eagles committed seven errors themselves over the doubleheader.
(Game 1) Northwest stranded a season-high 13 runners in the opener, including loading the bases in the eighth and ninth with nobody out and managing just one run. Meridian scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth on a two-out, pinch-hit RBI-single to left by Blake Fields.
Northwest plated a pair in the second to take an early 2-0 lead, with
Jake McPhail's single to left and
Hunter Bishop's RBI-groundout providing the runs.
Meridian rallied with three runs in the fifth to take its first lead, 3-2, capitalizing off two Ranger errors and using a two-run double by Kyle Bayles. Eason Weeks reached on a two-out error, scoring Bayles for the go-ahead run.
Cody Cooper's RBI-single to right in the bottom half, one of his three hits in the game, tied the game at 3-3 after five.
Another error allowed the Eagles to push back in front, 4-3, in the sixth after what could have been an inning-ending double play.
Northwest looked to retake the lead in its half of the eighth, loading the bases with no outs and putting the first four runners on base safely.
LeeMarcus Boyd's RBI-single up the middle plated the tying run before a fielder's choice at home and 4-6-3 double play ended the threat.
Meridian then found the game-winner in the ninth, using yet another infield error that led to the go-ahead run. Fields' pinch-hit single to left-center on a 3-0 count plated Nate Romans for the 5-4 lead.
With the bases full of Rangers and nobody out in the ninth, Northwest once again squandered a chance to plate the winning runs. Spencer Price (7-1) needed just five pitches after loading them up, getting a 1-2-3 double play and strikeout to earn the win.
Northwest stranded nine of 13 runners in scoring position in the loss. Eight players combined for 11 hits, led by Cooper's three-hit game.
Colt Smith scattered four runs (two earned) off seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks in a no-decision.
Jonathan Lindsey was the hard-luck loser, allowing one unearned run off two hits in three innings.
(Game 2) Scoreless through three, Meridian plated three runs in the fourth and held off a late scoring threat in the bottom of the seventh to hang on for a 4-3 win and the sweep.
Trailing 4-1 entering the seventh, Northwest quickly loaded the bases with no outs on back-to-back hit-by-pitches and a walk. After a strikeout,
Aleck Hobson was hit to plate a run and Boyd's groundout to third made it 4-3. But a strikeout and groundout ended any chances of a comeback.
Northwest was held to four hits in the nightcap, with Ryan Lane (7-2) earning the win in five solid innings and Buhkari Brown earning his first save of the year.
Jarod Wright (3-5) allowed one earned run and struck out five in six innings in the loss.
Best-of-3 Playoff Series vs Hinds (all 9-inning games):
Game 1: Friday, May 6 - 6 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday, May 7 - 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Saturday, May 7 - 6 p.m. (if necessary).
