SENATOBIA – Northwest opened the softball season on the right foot Tuesday, sweeping Mississippi Delta 6-5 and 10-2 at Ranger Field.
Northwest improved to 2-0 while MDCC remained winless on the year at 0-6. Weather permitting, Northwest will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Southwest Tennessee.
Game 1 – Northwest 6, Mississippi Delta 5
Trailing 5-0 in the fourth,
Sarah Taylor's leadoff triple helped the Rangers score four in the inning and Northwest would rally in the seventh and win it on
Maddy Politte's RBI-groundout.
MDCC led 1-0 after two innings and 4-0 after three. Three Ranger errors made way for a big inning, capped by RBI hits from Faith Delgado and Makenna Morgan.
Harley Smith put Northwest on the board in the fourth with an RBI-single after Taylor's leadoff triple.
Katie Brownlee followed with an RBI-single and
Marlee Ray's sac fly made it a 5-4 game after four.
Northwest tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth on Smith's two-out double, her third hit of the game, before Politte's one-out groundout won it in the seventh.
Smith and Taylor combined to go 5-for-8 to lead the Rangers at the plate, while Smith also got the win in a complete-game performance, allowing two earned runs and striking out a pair.
Game 2 – Northwest 10, Mississippi Delta 2 (5 inn.)
Northwest shook off the early season rust with an offensive outburst in game two, scoring 10 runs off 10 hits in a run-rule victory in five innings.
The Rangers plated four in the first on a two-run double by Smith and two-run single by
Ally Judkins.
MDCC cut the deficit in half in the second thanks to a two-run single from Alana Goss but Northwest immediately responded with a pair on another Smith RBI and pinch-hit RBI-double from
Mary Thornburg.
Northwest plated four more in the fifth, aided by two Lady Trojan errors.
Morgan Gresham scored on a passed ball, Judkins scored on an error,
Shelby Wilson added an RBI-single and the game-winning run came on Taylor's RBI-groundout.
Brownlee got the win in the circle, scattering six hits, two runs, two walks and two strikeouts.
Wilson was 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot, while Smith and Judkins added two hits each.