SENATOBIA - Behind a combined 25 hits, Northwest rebounded from the wrong end of last weekend's sweep to earn a pair of 8-6 and 11-2 victories against Coahoma on Tuesday evening.

Garrett Riggs finished 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs in Game 1, while Dylan Hale, Kelton Hall and Ty Leatherwood collectively accounted for six of the team's 12 hits in the nightcap.

Freshman Jake Savage tossed a solid relief outing in the opener, earning a career-high five strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Hammer Franks held it down for the Rangers in the finale, tossing six strikeouts against one walk in four complete innings.

Northwest will continue its homestand on Saturday, March 20 against 14th-ranked Jones College at 2/5 P.M. Live stats and broadcasts will be available for both games on nwccrangers.com/watch.


Game 1 - Northwest 8, Coahoma 6

Tied 6-6 entering the bottom of the eighth, Garrett Riggs smashed his third home run of the season on a two-run blast, breaking the tie and lifting Northwest to the Game 1 victory.

Northwest began the back-and-forth affair with a leadoff single from Caleb Hobson in the first inning. Hall's groundout to short would allow Hobson to score two batters later and give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

Coahoma struck back with a solo homer from Zarin Cole in the top of the second and an RBI-double from Chase Jones would give the Tigers a 2-1 lead in the third. Cole's sac fly to left brought in one more run for the Tigers in the third, moving the gap to 3-1.

Northwest responded promptly with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, thanks to back-to-back doubles from Riggs and Alan Kivett, closing the gap to 3-2. Kivett would later score on Noah Hattier's two-out RBI to even the contest at 3-3.

After both teams went scoreless in the fourth, Coahoma inched back ahead with a solo homer from Rodney Hibler in the top of the fifth. However, Northwest would tie the contest once more in the sixth with Landon Rogers' RBI-double.

Coahoma once again jumped back to a 5-4 lead in the seventh, but a two-run frame in the bottom half of the inning allowed the Rangers to push back ahead, 6-5.

Trey Thomas' RBI allowed the Tigers to force a 6-6 tie in the top of the eighth, but Riggs' homer in the bottom frame pushed the Rangers ahead for good. Judah Buckner then closed things out in the top of the ninth, earning his first collegiate victory on the mound.

Northwest finished with 13 hits for the third time this season, also reaching that mark in a road sweep at Northeast. The Rangers' 15 hits in a February road win at Coahoma remains the most in a single game for the 2021 campaign.

Colton Presley struck out four batters in 2.1 innings, before departing the game due to an injury. Savage stepped in afterwards and a delivered a career-best five strikeouts over 5.2 innings, his longest outing of the season.

Buckner threw the final 1.2 innings and allowed no runs with one strikeout, earning his first collegiate victory.


Game 2 - Northwest 11, Coahoma 2

Northwest scored nine runs over the first two innings, including six alone in the first, to roll to an 11-2 win in the nightcap.

Leatherwood got things going with his RBI-single to center and Peyton Mills followed with a grand slam and his seventh homer of the season. A rare steal of home allowed Cade Spratlin to score the sixth run of the first inning, giving the Rangers a comfortable advantage.

Although Coahoma added a pair of runs in the top of the second on a grounder and as the result of a fielding error, the Rangers bounced back with a three-run bottom of the second. Leatherwood struck once again on a double to right center and Hale followed with a two-run single past the shortstop, pushing Northwest to a 9-2 lead.

After keeping the Tigers scoreless in the third, a bases loaded wild pitch allowed another Ranger run to cross the plate in the bottom of the inning. Cameron Lancaster then added another run in the fourth with his RBI-single to left center.

Despite being a run away from ending the game in a five-inning run-rule, Northwest was unable to score the final run needed and used the extra time to empty the dugout, allowing Lancaster, Brady Logan, Tyler Byrd, Latham Hill, McGreger Lee and Peeko Townsend to earn chances at the plate.

Joel Wilkinson and Alonzo Hunt also took over for Franks in relief, with Hunt producing a career-best relief outing, allowing no runs and no hits against three strikeouts in two complete innings. Wilkinson also struck out a pair of batters in his lone inning of work.

In his first day as a starter, Kivett proved to be impressive at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths, stealing four bases on the day, with three coming in the Game 2 victory.