CHARLOTTE – After advancing to its 27th NJCAA Regional and posting a third straight 30-win season, Northwest (33-14) ends the year ranked ninth in the final NJCAA Division II Baseball Poll. 

Unranked in the preseason, the Rangers won 23 of their first 29 games, defeated five nationally-ranked teams during the year and finished 20-3 at home.

Head coach Mark Carson picked up his 400th career victory on March 29 after sweeping Southwest Mississippi and guided the Rangers to 20 conference wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. 

Northwest hit .295 as a team, paced by sophomore Ben Van Cleve (.375, 13 2B, 14 HR, 47 RBIs), and slugged 55 home runs which ranked 11th in the country.

As a pitching staff, the Rangers had a collective 4.05 ERA and set a new single-season school record in team strikeouts (379) and opponent batting average (.241).

Northwest loses 10 sophomores off this year's team, with five of those inking with Division I programs in Van Cleve and Hayden Leatherwood (Ole Miss), Tanner Leggett (Mississippi State), Tanner Booth (Murray State) and Reed Harding (Memphis).