SENATOBIA – In a pair of offensive showcases for the Rangers, the #20 Northwest Mississippi Community College baseball team (26-13, 13-5) picked up an important sweep over Hinds Community College (25-16, 11-9) on Saturday evening at Jim Miles Field, moving into a tie for second place in the conference standings, taking down the Eagles 11-6 in the opening game before holding on for a 10-7 win in the night cap.
The win put the Rangers into a tie with #2 Jones College (28-9, 13-5) and #4 East Central Community College (32-8, 13-5) in the standings with each team trailing #1 Pearl River Community College (32-8, 18-2) with ten games remaining in the conference schedule.
GAME 1 - #20 NWCC 11 Hinds 6
The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Barrett McKenney blasted his eighth home run of the season over the left field fence with two outs to bring home Hallas Lawson and Mason McMillin and give NWCC the opening lead of the game.
Tyce Powers used that to settle in on the mound, throwing up zeroes in the next three innings on his way to what was his longest appearance of the season, going into the sixth inning, only giving up three runs, of which only two would be earned.
Northwest added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning when a leadoff double from South McCoy set up an eventual sacrifice fly by John Whit Snopek to make it 4-0 for the Rangers.
Hinds answered in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff double scoring on a one-out RBI single and another run scoring when a double with two outs made it 4-2 and it seemed like the Eagles were back into the fight.
The bottom of the fifth took care of the threat though.
Mason Gillentine led off the inning with a single as part of four straight hits by the Rangers including a bunt single by Lawson and an infield single from Walker Sanders. Two of them would score on a double by McMillin and that started a six-run inning for the Rangers.
An RBI groundout from McCoy brought home McMillin to make it 8-0 and after a single by Doty, the Rangers were able to chase the Eagles starter from the game. Another RBI single from Snopek was followed by a double from Corey Watkins that scored Snopek to make it 10-2.
Northwest left the bases loaded after a third pitcher came out of the bullpen in Amzie Cochran, and he would quiet the Rangers for the next three innings, but the damage was done.
Hinds added runs in the next three innings, picking up an RBI single against Tyler Sullivan in the top of the seventh, and a two run home run in the top of the eighth to close the gap to 11-6, but Sullivan worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for a three-inning save and helped to close the door on the fifth win of the season for Powers as the Rangers rolled to their 25th win of the season.
GAME 2 - #20 NWCC 10 Hinds 7
It was déjà vu in the opening in of the second game as the Rangers once again jumped out to an early lead in the first inning to help out Eli Deberry on the mound, picking up three runs after the first four batters reached base, picking up an RBI double from Lawson to score Preston Johnson and a two-run homer from McMillin to push the lead to 3-0 on his team leading 12th home run of the season.
Deberry would get touched up for a home run in the top of the second inning when AJ Seider was able to clear the left field fence with a three-run home run of his own but that was the last time the Eagles would see the score tied.
Lake Reed brought home Snopek with an RBI ground out after Watkins moved him to third base with a double in the bottom of the second inning to give the Rangers the lead back in the second inning, and after a scoreless inning by Deberry in the top of the third that included him working out of a bases loaded situation with a strike out, the Rangers offense batted around in the bottom of the inning for a five spot on the board to go up 9-3.
The inning was started by the third double of the day by Lawson, who finished the double-header going 6-for-7, and saw the first four reach base with RBI's from McKenney and McCoy before the Eagles brought in their third pitcher of the night.
Hinds would chase Deberry in the top of the fourth inning when they picked up a pair of base runners on a walk and a double. Connor Young came in to relieve him and gave up one run on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch brough home one more, but the Rangers came in and closed the game to a 9-5 score.
Northwest got one back in the fifth on an RBI single from Johnson that score Gillentine after a walk and a stolen base put him in scoring position to make it 10-6.
McCoy entered in the middle of the sixth inning when Young had runners on first and second with one out, and the sophomore limited the damage to one run on a two-out double, and other than a leadoff home run in the top of the seventh, there were really no other threats from the Eagles on the way to the Rangers finishing the 10-7 win for the sweep.
The win went to Young in relief, and moved the Rangers to 26-13 on the season, improving their home record to 7-3 in conference play. It was also the 597th in the career for Carson.
UP NEXT –
The Rangers will hit the road next week with a pair of important series. The week opens with a short rest week and games on Tuesday against Holmes Community College (16-21, 8-10) in Goodman, with first pitch at 3 P.M. and 6 P.M. You can find streaming information online at nwccrangers.com.
They will close out the week with a critical series in Wesson against #23 Copiah-Lincoln Community College (25-16, 10-8) on Saturday at 2 P.M. and 5 P.M.
Keep up with all the Northwest news and action by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
