DECATUR - For the first time in over two weeks, fourth-ranked Northwest stepped back on the diamond on Tuesday at East Central, falling to Meridian 6-2 and defeating the host Warriors 6-4.

Four Rangers led the way with two hits apiece, while Will Logsdon and John Luke Marlin collected a pair of solid relief outings on the mound.

Northwest moved to 6-4 on the season, while Meridian improved to 8-2 and East Central fell to 3-5. The Rangers are scheduled to host No. 7 Pearl River for the conference-opening doubleheader on Saturday, February 27, with live broadcasts of both games available on nwccrangers.com/watch.


Game 1 - Meridian 6, #4 Northwest 2

Northwest was held to a season-low .115 batting average and struck out 11 times at the plate in the loss to Meridian.

Despite taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning off an RBI-groundout from Hammer Franks, the Rangers had no answer for Alec Sparks the rest of the way, as the Eagles' pitcher tossed seven strikeouts and allowed only two hits in five frames.

Bo Gatlin tied the game for Meridian in the second inning with an RBI-single through the left side, before an error at short allowed Banks Tolley to help the Eagles to a 2-1 lead.

Things went from bad to worse for the Rangers in the third inning, as Bridley Thomas smacked a three-run homer to left field that made it a 5-1 advantage for the Eagles. Meridian then capped off the inning with a solo homer from Gatlin to make it a 6-1 lead.

After going scoreless for three straight innings, Northwest finally scraped across another run in the fifth on Kelton Hall's RBI-grounder to second. The run failed to spark a serious rally for the Rangers however, as Meridian held on for the win.

Tucker Richmond accounted for two of the Rangers' three hits in the contest, including a double. Gatlin led the Eagles with two of the team's six hits.

Colton Peel was handed the loss for Northwest, dropping to 2-1 on the season. The Houston native lasted four innings and struck out four batters on three walks, while allowing five of Meridian's six hits.

Logsdon allowed no runs in his two-inning relief stint and gave up one hit against two strikeouts.


Game 2 - #4 Northwest 6, East Central 4

Although East Central threatened with the winning run at the plate in the seventh inning, the true freshman Marlin worked out of a two-out jam to earn the save and struck out Branson Sharpley, allowing Northwest to hold on for the split.

A scoreless first inning quickly gave way to a two-run second inning for the Rangers, thanks to a sac fly from Garrett Riggs and an RBI-single to second base from Noah Hattier.

After East Central walked Tucker Richmond to lead off the third, Kelton Hall made the Warriors pay with a towering, two-run shot to left center, earning his second homer of the season and extending the lead to 4-0.

Northwest gained two additional runs in the fourth, as Riggs and Richmond scored off wild pitches for the Rangers' fifth and sixth runs of the evening.

East Central spent the next four innings slowly chipping away at the deficit, starting first with an RBI-grounder from Conner Hicks in the bottom of the fourth. Kade Turnage added another Warrior run in the fifth with an RBI-single to short.

Austin Lee's solo homer to left center sliced the Rangers' lead to 6-3 in the sixth, followed by Jesse Boydstun's single up the middle to make it a 6-4 deficit in the seventh. Despite getting two runners on with two outs, the Warriors' rally fell short as Marlin's strikeout of Sharpley ended the contest.

Northwest finished with six hits in the contest, led by a pair of 2-for-3 efforts at the plate from Hall and Mills. The Rangers were also walked seven times.

Hammer Franks (1-1) struck out three batters against two hits and an earned run across four innings of work. Joel Wilkinson and Judah Buckner combined to strike out a pair of batters in two complete frames, while Marlin earned his first career save.

Ervin Simmons was handed the loss for East Central after allowing four earned runs and three walks, while Walker Johnson was solid in three relief innings for the Warriors, tallying six strikeouts.