WESSON – The #18 Northwest Mississippi Community College baseball team (28-15, 15-7) earned a road split with #21 Copiah-Lincoln Community College (27-18, 12-10) on Saturday afternoon, dropping the opener 12-7 before rallying back to win game two 5-4 behind a two-home run game by Evan Lightsey.
"A little disappointed obviously," Head Coach Mark Carson said. "In game one, too many walks, too many errors, and not enough timely hits, but we were able to come back in game two, and Evan Lightsey was huge, and South McCoy was huge, and those two guys put us on their backs and got us to the finish line."
The split saw the Rangers stay within one game of second place in the MACCC standings, trailing #4 Jones College (33-12, 16-6) and #2 East Central Community College (39-9, 16-6) by one game with six remaining on the schedule.
GAME 1 - #18 NWCC 7 #21 Co-Lin 12
The Rangers got off to a lightning-quick start in the opening inning after a pair of singles by Mason Gillentine and John Whit Snopek set up Barrett McKenney with two outs in the top of the first for a three-run home run off the Co-Lin starter Tanner Blackwell.
Tyce Powers took the ball on the mound for the Rangers, and he kept up the momentum by striking out the side around a walk to establish himself on the mound. That would be the start of five innings of strong pitching for the sophomore, only giving up two runs in the bottom of the second on a two-run home run from Avery Griffin that cut the Ranger lead to 3-2 at the time.
"Tyce was what he has been for us," Carson said. "He's going to compete in the strike zone, and his stuff just doesn't get hit very hard. He misses a lot of barrels, and when he does that, he is going to be very effective. I'm just proud of him."
Northwest earned a run back in the top of the fifth inning when Gillentine got on base with a two-out single. After stealing second base and moving up to third on a throwing error, the sophomore was brought home by Walker Sanders on an RBI single to left that pushed the lead back to 4-2.
The Rangers would go to the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth inning after a leadoff walk signaled the end of the day for Powers. Preston Johnson would come in to relieve the starter, and after getting the first batter he faced on a strikeout, the Wolves tacked on a run with an RBI triple and would tie the game after an error on a ground ball to third.
The next batter put the Rangers in a hole when Brady White hit the second home run of the day for Co-Lin to give them the lead for the first time at 6-4. Northwest was forced to go to the bullpen again, this time for Connor Young, who was able to get out of the inning before any more damage could be done.
More offense came in the bottom of the seventh when a two-out rally was sparked by the middle of the order, resulting in three runs scoring in the inning on three singles and a walk before Young was able to get back to the dugout, but by that time the score was now 9-4 with just two innings left to play.
McKenney was able to get some back for the Rangers in the top of the eighth when he brought home Mason McMillin with a two-run home run that cleared the scoreboard in left field to trim it to 9-6, and another run came home on a South McCoy blast to right field to make it 9-7.
"Barrett was a really big bat for us in game one with two big home runs. He got some stuff to handle, and it was good for him. He's down from here, and this is kind of home for him, so really proud he could do that down here," Carson said.
After a leadoff double for the Wolves in the bottom of the eighth, Tyler Sullivan was brought in out of the bullpen to relieve Young, and despite getting two outs once again, the Co-Lin offense was able to find a clutch hit with a double bringing home a pair of runs and an error adding one more as the lead returned to five at 12-7.
Northwest went down one-two-three in the top of the ninth inning despite putting the ball in play all three times. The loss would go to Johnson in relief.
GAME 2 - #18 NWCC 5 #21 Co-Lin 4
It was Co-Lin that got the jump on the Rangers in the bottom of the first when a pair of runs scored on just one hit, but starter Eli Deberry was able to strand the bases loaded with a pair of strikeouts around a walk to limit the damage.
The Rangers answered back with a run in the top of the second when Lightsey blasted a home run out to right-center field to close the game to 2-1, and they picked up another run in the top of the fourth after a leadoff triple by McMillin was brought home on a sacrifice fly by McKenney to tie the game at two.
Deberry was relieved in the bottom of the fourth inning by Wil Howell, and he worked a one-two-three fourth inning to keep the game tied. His fifth inning wasn't as clean, giving up walks to the first four batters that he faced before being replaced by McCoy on the mound, and the Rangers' closer was able to limit the Wolves to just one more run to keep the game close at 4-2.
Northwest didn't wait long to answer the two runs from Co-Lin, striking for three in the top of the sixth after a double by McMillin was followed by a fielder's choice that resulted in no outs to set up Lightsey for a home run that just snuck inside of the right field foul pole to give the Rangers their first lead of the game at 5-4.
"Today I just simplified my approach," Lightsey said. "I had been overthinking things, and today, I got two strikes and just simplified my approach and just hit it."
McCoy continued his dominance into the home half of the sixth inning, working around a walk and picking up a pair of strikeouts, and followed suit in the seventh, walking the leadoff batter but getting a strikeout, a fielder's choice, and a fly out to deep right field to end the game and help Northwest pick up the split of the double header.
"Evan had the big blow, and then South was able to get three, and that was really good for him and just really good for the team in general," Carson said.
"It felt great," Lightsey echoed. "We are near the top of the conference right now, so we needed to get that one."
It was the third win of the season for McCoy, and he increased his strikeout total to 33 with his second-highest single-game total this season. McCoy also kept up his hitting streak with is now at ten games, matching his longest streak of the year, and he has hit safely in 20 of the last 21 games he has played in.
UP NEXT –
The Rangers return home for an important homestand with a double header on Wednesday with games at 3 and 6 P.M. against Mississippi Delta Community College (4-32, 0-22) who sit at the bottom of the conference standings, before closing out the week with a double header on Saturday against #1 Pearl River Community College (39-9, 21-3).
Weather is expected this weekend and could impact the upcoming schedule, so be sure to visit nwccrangers.com for updates to the schedule or follow along on Northwest social media accounts to stay in the know.
