SENATOBIA - Hits were not hard to come by for Northwest on Saturday, as the Rangers combined for 27 of them in a pair of 14-2 and 14-7 victories against Copiah-Lincoln.
Northwest picked up its seventh run-rule victory of the season in the Game 1 win, backed by a complete game from
Colton Presley. The Rangers also got three home runs in the opener, including two from
Wesley Lester, to help pull away from the Wolves. Northwest also withstood a six-run rally from Copiah-Lincoln in the sixth inning of Game 2.
With the sweep, Northwest improved to 23-19 on the season and 13-13 in conference play. Copiah-Lincoln fell to 11-30 overall and 6-20 in the MACCC.
Northwest will host Jackson State (Tenn.) in one nine-inning contest on Tuesday, April 26, before closing out the regular season against Southwest Mississippi on Friday, April 29. The doubleheader against SMCC will serve as Sophomore Day for the program and is slated for 2/5 P.M.
Game 1 - Northwest 14, Copiah-Lincoln 2 (5 inn.)
It didn't take long for Northwest to get on the board in the opener against Copiah-Lincoln, as the Rangers sent five runs across the plate in the bottom of the first and two more in the second for a 7-0 lead, en route to a run-rule victory.
Copiah-Lincoln added a pair of runs back in the top of the third inning, but the Rangers stopped any potential momentum from the Wolves by tacking on six runs in the bottom of the third, stretching the lead to 13-2.Â
Northwest would get one more run in the fourth and Presley finished off the Wolves in the top half of the fifth inning.
Northwest finished with 12 hits in the contest, led by five players with two hits each. In addition to a home run from
Ryan Lee and two from Lester, the Rangers also got doubles from Lee,
Caleb Hobson and
Cameron Lancaster, while
Dawson Griffin recorded a triple.
Presley improved to 5-2 on the mound and struck out six batters against three walks.
Game 2 - Northwest 14, Copiah-Lincoln 7
Brooks Rice recorded his longest outing of the season and picked up his first Northwest victory, as the Rangers defeated Copiah-Lincoln in Game 2.
After the Wolves scored one in the top of the first, Northwest responded with a pair of runs in the home half of the first, due in part to a solo homer from Lee.
Both teams were held scoreless until the bottom of the third, when the Rangers made it a 3-1 lead on a fielder's choice in Lancaster's at-bat. Northwest then rattled off five runs in the fourth, thanks to
Wesley Lester's three-run homer and an RBI-double from Lee.
Northwest got two more in the fifth after Griffin scored on a wild pitch and
Thomas Cheatham doubled into left field.Â
Leading 10-1, the Rangers saw its lead threatened by a six-run Wolves rally in the top of the sixth. With two outs and only a 10-7 lead,
John Luke Marlin entered the game in relief and got the final out to end the threat.
From there, Northwest got some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to an RBI-single from Lester and a solo home run from
Brady Logan. Two wild pitches allowed the final two runs to score for the Rangers, before Marlin delivered the save for Northwest.
Northwest finished with 15 hits in the nightcap, led by a 3-for-3 effort from Lester and two hits apiece from Hobson, Lancaster, Lee and Logan. On the mound, Rice struck out four batters over five innings of work, allowing only two walks and two earned runs.
