SENATOBIA - Tied at 6-6 with one out in the bottom of the seventh of Monday's nightcap against Northeast, the Tigers made the decision to intentionally walk Cade Leatherwood and bring up Northwest sophomore catcher Matthew Roncalli, who was 0-for-3 in the contest.

That decision proved to be a costly one, as the Saltillo native blasted a single through the left side, scoring Cade Greer from second base and securing the conference sweep of Northeast. The 16th-ranked Rangers took both games from the Tigers by a pair of 8-1 and 7-6 finals.

Roncalli's walk-off winner was preceded by a crucial moment in the top of the seventh, when the catcher also caught Northeast's Kylan Washington stealing second for the final out of the inning. A couple innings earlier, Greer also hit an inside-the-park home run to right center field to put the Rangers back ahead, 6-5.

Meanwhile, Scott Sharp tossed seven scoreless frames for the Rangers in Game 1 and Greer went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.

With the sweep, Northwest improved to 30-11 on the season, marking the program's first 30-win campaign since 2019. That season, the Rangers finished 33-14 with a final ranking of No. 9 in the NJCAA polls. Additionally, this is now the ninth 30-win season for coach Mark Carson, the most ever recorded by any Northwest baseball coach.

Northwest also jumped to 15-3 in conference play, briefly separating the Rangers from East Central and Jones College in the three-way tie for second place. Those two teams are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, weather permitting.

With the losses, Northeast fell to 22-19 overall and 8-10 in the MACCC.

Northwest will now turn its attention to Saturday, April 13, when the Rangers take on Meridian at 2/5 P.M. The Eagles (24-14, 9-7 MACCC) have won five of their last six games, pending Tuesday's twinbill at Copiah-Lincoln.

Both games of Saturday's doubleheader will be carried on Ranger TV.



Game 1 - #16 Northwest 8, Northeast 1

Although Northeast got a run late in the top of the ninth to spoil the shutout, Northwest was carried by 11 base hits and seven shutout innings from Sharp, earning the Game 1 opener against the Tigers.

Greer singled with one out in the bottom of the first, scoring on an RBI-triple from Peyton Martin. The Rangers followed with four runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by an RBI-single from Hayes Davis, an RBI-double from Tyler Pearson and an RBI-triple from Jacob Hill. Greer also delivered another run with a single up the middle, giving Northwest a solid 5-0 lead.

After going scoreless in the third, Greer sent in two more runs with his double down the left-field line in the fourth, scoring Hill and Pearson to stretch the lead to 7-0. The Rangers' final run came in the bottom of the sixth, when Martin's sacrifice fly to center scored Davis.

Carter Wells then settled in for two shutout innings of relief for Northeast, and the Tigers finally scored on a fielder's choice in the top of the ninth. However, the rally was short-lived, as Ben Sandlin grounded out to Payton Sanders, sealing the victory for the Rangers.

Northwest out-hit the Tigers by an 11-2 margin, led by three hits from Greer. Davis, Hill, Martin and Pearson also accounted for two base hits each, while Wells and Kristian Sprawling were responsible for the lone two base hits for Northeast.

Sharp (8-1) struck out two batters against a pair of walks in a solid seven-inning start, while Carson Fox pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the eighth. 

Taylor Ballard (2-4) lasted just four innings for Northeast, giving up seven of the Rangers' eight runs. Brant Smith pitched three strikeouts across the next two innings, before Wells kept Northwest off the board over the final two frames.


Game 2 - #16 Northwest 7, Northeast 6

A five-run third inning helped Northeast erase a 3-0 deficit, but Northwest ultimately pulled out the win against the Tigers in the nightcap, thanks to the walk-off single from Roncalli.

Martin's RBI-single in the first and Davis' solo homer to right center in the second helped the Rangers gain an early 2-0 advantage. Hill's single to the shortstop scored Cy Craig from third to close out the second inning with a 3-0 Northwest lead.

However, things unraveled for the Rangers in the top half of the third, starting with a leadoff double from Harris McReynolds. A walk to Sprawling put another Northeast runner on base and despite a sacrifice bunt, Wells tied the game up with a three-run home run to left field.

Northeast was far from finished though, as the Tigers soon loaded the bases with only one out still on the board. A bases-loaded walk to Parker Hall brought in the go-ahead run for Northeast, and a wild pitch scored Conner Graves from third, pushing the Rangers into a 5-3 hole.

With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Northwest answered back. After an error at third base allowed Davis to reach base, a walk to Craig put another Ranger runner on the basepaths, when Greer delivered a missile to right center, resulting in a rare inside-the-park home run. The play was Greer's first home run of the season and allowed three runs to score, helping the Rangers regain a 6-5 advantage.

Both teams went down quietly in the fifth, but Northeast tied the game back up on a sacrifice fly from Wells with two outs in the top of the sixth. Davis managed to earn a base hit and advance all the way to third in the bottom of the sixth, but the sophomore from Starkville was left stranded.

Northeast put the go-ahead run on base in the top of the seventh, thanks to a leadoff single from Graves. However, Sandlin grounded into a double play and after Hall drew a walk, Roncalli caught his pinch runner stealing for the final out of the inning.

Greer led off the bottom of the seventh with a bunt single to Samuel Curtis, the Tigers' relief pitcher, later advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt from Martin. With one out, Leatherwood was intentionally walked, setting up Roncalli for the walk-off winner.

Northwest finished the game with 10 base hits, with two apiece coming from Davis, Greer and Hill. Graves and Sandlin combined for four of the Tigers' six base hits.

Despite issuing three strikeouts, Gavin McCoy exited after 2.1 innings after allowing four walks and five earned runs. Fox pitched the next 2.2 frames of relief with two strikeouts and no runs surrendered.

Cooper Mitze tossed one out and allowed an earned run in relief, but James Smith (7-2) finished things out with the win, throwing the final 1.2 innings. 

J.B. Williams threw five innings for Northeast, striking out two batters against a walk and five earned runs. Samuel Curtis (2-2) took the loss for the Tigers, issuing one strikeout against a walk and an earned run.  Read Full Article