SUMMIT - After falling in a 10-0 shutout at Southwest Mississippi, Northwest rallied back to take a 5-2 decision in the nightcap, earning a road split in Sunday afternoon's regular season curtain-closer.
Northwest ends the regular season with a 24-16 overall record, marking the 26th consecutive season with 20 or more victories (not counting the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season) and the 15th season in a row to end with a winning record.
Additionally, the Rangers sport a 16-12 MACCC record, which will be used to determine seeding in the upcoming NJCAA Region 23 Playoffs, which begin on Friday, May 7. Northwest will travel for a Best-of-3 playoff series at an opponent to be determined, with the series winner advancing to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament from May 17-21.
Stay tuned to nwccrangers.com and Twitter (@NWCC_Rangers) for further updates on playoff opponents.
Game 1 - Southwest Mississippi 10, Northwest 0 (5 inn.)
After taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Southwest Mississippi added to its lead with a run in the second and a four-run third inning, before ending things early with a three-run fifth inning.
Northwest was outhit 9-4 in the contest, with hits coming from
Kelton Hall,
Garrett Riggs,
Cade Spratlin and
Noah Hattier. Mason Barker, Braydon Coffey, Jonathan Havard and Ilich Purcell finished with two hits apiece to lead the Bears.
Hammer Franks (5-2) got the start for the Rangers and pitched three innings, allowing seven earned runs and two walks against a strikeout.
Joel Wilkinson tossed the final 1.1 innings in relief and surrendered three earned runs.
Braxton Cooksey improved to 3-2 for the Bears after delivering three strikeouts in five complete frames.
Game 2 - Northwest 5, Southwest Mississippi 2
Behind a three-run first inning, Northwest added two more in the top of the seventh to secure a victory and a series split at Southwest Mississippi.
Southwest Mississippi scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first and second innings to cut the lead to 3-2, but neither team would add anything else to the scoreboard over the next four innings.
After the two insurance runs in the top of the seventh,
Jake Savage relieved
Colton Presley in the bottom half of the inning, with a walk being his lone blemish. Savage earned his first career save for the Rangers, while Presley improved his record to 2-2 on the season, with a career-high 10 strikeouts in six innings of work.
Northwest was held to just four hits in the contest, but a two-run homer from
Peyton Mills highlighted the scoring for the Rangers.
Dylan Hale finished 1-for-3 with a double, while
Ty Leatherwood went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Cooksey and Jerod Williams earned the only two hits of the game for the Bears.
