DECATUR - A back-and-forth game against East Central and a slugfest with Jones College both went in favor of the opponents on Tuesday afternoon, as Northwest fell by a pair of 9-5 and 18-11 finals.
Northwest had five hits in the loss to the Warriors, while finishing with nine in the nightcap loss to the Bobcats. The Rangers are now 8-3 on the season.
Northwest is slated to return to action on Friday afternoon in Summit against John Melvin University and Southwest Mississippi. The Rangers' matchup with John Melvin will begin at 2:30 P.M., immediately followed by a 5 P.M. start time against the Bears.
Game 1 - East Central 9, Northwest 5
A run was scored in every inning except the ninth, as East Central pulled away late for the 9-5 win against Northwest.
Northwest jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first, thanks to a two-run homer by
Eli Selby. However, the Warriors quickly responded with a run in the home half of the inning, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
East Central kept the Rangers off the board in the top of the second and plated two more runs in the bottom half of the inning, earning a 3-2 lead. Northwest countered with the tying run in the top of the third and another run in the fourth to take a 4-3 advantage.
Northwest kept the lead until the bottom of the fifth, when the Warriors tied the game on a solo home run. The Rangers briefly gained a 5-4 lead in the top of the sixth inning, but the Warriors plated two in the home half of the inning to regain the 6-5 margin.
With the Rangers unable to score runs in the seventh, East Central began to tack on insurance runs, scoring one in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Northwest was unable to match the Warriors in the final two innings, as the ECCC bullpen kept the Rangers from coming any closer.
Blake Loper was handed the loss after tossing the final three innings, allowing four earned runs with a strikeout.
Brooks Rice started the contest, striking out two batters and allowing five earned runs across five full innings of action.
Selby led the Rangers at the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.
Cade Greer,
Jacob Hill and
James Smith all finished with a base hit as well.
Game 2 - Jones College 18, Northwest 11
Northwest surrendered six runs in the top half of the third inning and 11 more in the fifth inning alone, as Jones College handed Northwest the 18-11 loss.
Both teams were scoreless until the third inning, when Luke Lycette smacked a solo homer to get the Bobcats on the board. Later in the inning, Jones College added a three-run homer, an RBI-single and a sac fly to center field, putting the Rangers behind 6-0.
After Jones College added another run in the top of the fourth, Northwest stormed back with a five-run frame in the bottom of the fourth. A bases loaded walk to
Cade Leatherwood brought in the Rangers' first run and a series of errors, walks and a hit-by-pitch scored more runs with the bases loaded. Selby's RBI-single to the shortstop capped off the fourth inning scoring for the Rangers, as Northwest closed the gap to 7-5.
However, things went off the rails for the Rangers in the top of the fifth, as Jones College scored 11 runs. A wild pitch brought in the first run from the Bobcats, followed by a pair of RBI-singles and a bases loaded walk, pushing the deficit to 13-5. A two-run double, RBI-single and another two-run single stretched the gap to 18-5.
To its credit, Northwest rebounded by scattering six runs across the fifth and sixth innings. However, the deficit to the Bobcats was ultimately too much to overcome.
Connor McCaslin was handed the loss after lasting 2.1 innings with three strikeouts and six runs allowed. Five other pitchers saw action in relief, including a two-strikeout effort from
James Smith.
Leatherwood went 2-for-2 at the plate with two RBIs to lead Northwest, while Smith and
Dawson Griffin also finished with two hits apiece.
