Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SENATOBIA - Though Southwest Mississippi put a sour start on Sophomore Day for Northwest, the Rangers rallied back from a 3-2 loss to take the nightcap by a 13-4 final on Friday evening.

With the split and Meridian's sweep against Itawamba, the Rangers locked up one of the final spots remaining for the NJCAA Region 23 Playoffs. Not counting the shortened 2020 COVID-19 season, Northwest has now made the postseason for 13 straight years and 19 of the last 20 seasons, a stretch that dates back to 2002 and former coach Donny Castle's tenure.

Northwest concludes the regular season at 24-21 overall and 14-14 in the MACCC. Southwest Mississippi dropped to 13-29 on the season and 8-20 in conference play. The Rangers will await official word on their first round matchup, scheduled for next weekend. Details will be posted on nwccrangers.com when announced from the conference.


Game 1 - Southwest Mississippi 3, Northwest 2

With the tying run at third base and the winning run at second base, freshman Jaylon Buckley was inches away from delivering a walk-off winner for Northwest in Game 1. However, the ball was caught at the wall by the Southwest Mississippi outfielder, giving the Bears the slim victory in the opener.

An old-fashioned pitchers' duel kept it a low-scoring game throughout the contest, as Northwest sophomore Zach Willingham tossed seven scoreless frames and a career-high 12 strikeouts in his final home appearance. On the other side, Southwest Mississippi's Braxton Cooksey went the distance, tossing 10 strikeouts against four walks.

Wesley Lester broke the ice in the bottom of the sixth, as his groundout to first scored Landon Rogers for the game's first run. Northwest would hold on to the 1-0 advantage through the end of the seventh inning.

After Willingham was pulled to begin the eighth inning, Southwest Mississippi struck back, gathering all three of its runs in the frame. Jerod Williams tied the game with a double, then scored on an error, while Connor McHenry finished things off with an RBI-single to right field.

Trailing 3-1 with three outs left, the Rangers tried to spark a rally after walks to Cramer and Lester. Brady Logan delivered an RBI-single to bring Northwest back within a run, but the Bears would hang on with the third out at the wall.

Northwest was outhit by Southwest Mississippi, 8-6, in the loss, with Logan's 2-for-3 effort leading the way. John Luke Marlin (2-2) was handed the loss after allowing two of the Bears' three runs in the eighth. Connor Spencer finished off the final two innings of relief for Northwest, tossing one strikeout.

McHenry and Hunter Harrell finished with two hits apiece for the Bears, with Harrell being one of four players to pick up an extra base hit.


Game 2 - Northwest 14, Southwest Mississippi 4 (5 inn.)

A four-run bottom of the first inning helped set the tone for Northwest in the finale, as the Rangers run-ruled Southwest Mississippi, needing a win to punch their postseason ticket.

Northwest scored a run in every inning, including four in the first and four more in the fourth. The Rangers also blasted 17 hits in the victory, compared to six from the Bears.

Lester's two-run double down the left field line got things going for the Rangers in the first inning, followed by an RBI-single from Logan and an RBI-double from Peeko Townsend. The 4-0 lead quickly became a 6-0 lead in the second, after a sac fly from Cameron Lancaster and an error in Ryan Lee's at-bat.

Southwest Mississippi sliced the lead in half with a three-run frame in the top of the third, but Josh Hill shut down the Bears after entering in relief of Colton Presley. Northwest would then respond with three runs of its own, pushing the lead back to a comfortable 9-3 margin.

After a scoreless frame from Hill in the top of the fourth, Lester and Townsend would start things off with a bang in the bottom half of the inning, teeing off on a pair of solo home runs to make it an 11-3 advantage for the Rangers. A double from Hobson and a single from Rogers would further extend the lead to 13-3.

Although Southwest Mississippi gained a run back in the top of the fifth, Hobson would walk it off with an RBI-single to right field in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Rangers the run-rule win.

Hobson went 5-for-5 at the plate with a double and three RBIs, while Townsend finished a triple away from hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBIs. Buckley, Lester and Hunter Cramer also finished with two hits each.

Hill picked up the win for Northwest in relief, going 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Presley struck out three, but allowed all three of the Bears' runs in the top of the third, while Jake Savage tossed the final 0.2 innings with a strikeout.

Southwest Mississippi used five pitchers in the contest, with starter Cole Tillman taking the loss for the Bears after giving up the first four Northwest runs. The five pitchers combined to issue just one strikeout against the Rangers' batting order.