BOONEVILLE – In their only action of the weekend the #20 Northwest Mississippi Community College softball team (6-4) split a pair of games with Wabash Valley College (3-7), walking off the second of the game 10-9 in extra innings after falling in the opener 7-4.
GAME 1 – NWCC 4 Wabash 7
The Rangers jumped on the board first in the top of the inning with an RBI double from Lilliana Cates to bring in Ava Claire Rhoden and a sac fly to center field would bring home Handley McAtee to give NWCC the early lead at 2-0.
Both teams would trade zeros from there through the top of the fourth inning as the game stayed tight going to be back half.
One bad inning is all that doomed the Rangers in their opening game against the Warriors despite an overall strong start from Meredith Dearman who would finish the game with six innings of work and six strikeouts.
Unfortunately, the blemish was a major one, with the Warriors scoring seven runs in the bottom of the fourth with a no-out bases loaded double opening the scoring before the Rangers could quiet down the attack.
Northwest did answer back in the top of the fifth inning, getting an RBI groundout from Allison Christmas to bring home Lindsey Gillis and make it 7-3.
After another pair of zeros on defense in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings, Northwest made one more push with a two-out double in the top of the seventh by Gillis starting a rally that was followed by a single by Londen Armstrong to make it 7-4, but a popout would end the inning and the Rangers would fall short in the comeback effort.
The top offensive effort came from Gillis with two runs scored on a 2-3 day at the plate. Other hits came from McAtee, Cates, and Armstrong.
GAME 2 – NWCC 10 Wabash 9 (8 innings)
It was a rocky start for the Rangers in the second game when the Warriors opened with a inside the park homerun from the leadoff batter that put Catelyn Brown into an early hole, but it wouldn't last long as Northwest didn't waste time by answering back in the bottom half.
A Cates fly ball to center would bring home Rhoden after she double to lead off the inning to tie the game at one.
A two out rally would follow in the bottom of the second inning when Armstrong and Christmas would single, followed by a walk to Rhoden that set up a three-run double from McAtee to put the Rangers out in front 4-1.
Three more runs would come in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Rhoden scoring Christmas and another double by Cates to bring home both Rhoden and McAtee which extended the lead to 7-1.
Wabash answered back with three of their own in the top of the fifth when a pair of singles would set up a two-run double to make it 7-3, and one more would come on a passed ball that allowed a runner from third to score.
Carleigh Calarco extended it back to an 8-4 lead with a home run to open the bottom of the fifth, and more offense would come in the form of an RBI double by Armstrong to push the lead to 9-4.
Wabash would get on the comeback trail for the rest of regulation, holding Northwest off of the board while picking up a single run in the top of the sixth and thanks to a three-run homerun in the top of the seventh, they would tie the game at nine to force extra innings.
The bottom of the order couldn't get it done in the bottom of the seventh for Northwest, but after handing the baton off to the middle of the order would see four straight Rangers reach base to load the bases and a walkoff single by Armstrong would bring home the winning run to give Northwest a 10-9 win and the split in the double header.
Multiple Rangers had strong showings, particularly on the offensive side where Rhoden went a perfect 3-3 in the game with two walks, scoring three runs and getting an RBI. Armstrong finished with a pair of RBI's going 3-5. McAtte and Cates both also finished with three RBI's while combining for three hits.
Brown picked up the no decision after going 6.1 innings, giving up nine runs, but only five of them were earned. She did strike out five before giving way to Dearman for the final 1.2 innings. Dearman would get the win with a pair of strikeouts for her fourth victory of the season.
Up Next -
Northwest will be back in action on Tuesday when they begin a busy week of games, starting with a trip to Gadsden, Alabama to face Cleveland State Community College (TN) and the host Gadsden State Community College.
NWCC will return home for a double header on Wednesday at the Ranger Softball Complex against Calhoun Community College at 3 P.M. and 5 P.M. You can follow along with the full schedule of Ranger athletics by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following Northwest on social media accounts.
