POPLARVILLE – The regular season came to a close for #17 Northwest Mississippi Community College (26-17, 18-10) on Saturday afternoon against #5 Pearl River Community College (40-6, 24-4), falling in both games of their double header with the Wildcats taking the opener 9-1 before dropping the second in a narrow 3-2 decision at Wildcat Stadium.
GAME 1 - #17 NWCC 1 #5 Pearl River 9 (5 Innings)
The Rangers got off to a rocky start in the opening game as starter Catelyn Brown got touched up for four runs in the bottom half of the inning before they were able to record an out with a homerun and a double putting Northwest in an early hole.
More offense would come for Pearl River in the bottom of the second thanks to a two-run single that pushed the lead to 6-0, but after that, Brown would get settled down for the next two innings, retiring the side in order in the third and only giving up one in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, the Ranger offense wasn't stagnant, but it did have trouble finding the key hit to answer back. They put seven runners on in the first three innings, including loading the bases in the top of the third, but every time they were held off of the board.
It wasn't until the top of the fifth inning that they were able to get their first run of the game when Emma Jennings hit a RBI single to left field, scoring Lillianna Cates with two outs to make it a 7-1 game.
That momentum was too little, too late for any kind of rally back, with the Wildcats scoring twice in the bottom half of the fifth, scoring two runs to end the game in a 9-1 run-rule victory.
While they only got five hits, the Rangers did have eleven baserunners in the game and only struck out twice. Only one member of the Northwest lineup didn't get on base during the contest.
GAME 2 - #17 NWCC 2 #5 Pearl River 3
After the quick start for the Wildcats in the opening game, it was a completely different story for them in the second game as freshman Meredith Dearman held them off of the board for five innings, allowing the Rangers to take the lead in the third inning and hold it until Pearl River took it for good in the bottom of the sixth.
It wasn't until the third inning that Northwest picked up their first baserunners of the game after being retired in order to kick off the first two frames.
A one-out single in the top of the third from Jennings was followed by a two-out single by Ava Claire Rhoden, setting up Handley McAtee for an RBI double that nearly plated two were it not for a play at the plate that saw Rhoden cut down trying to score.
That still put the Rangers up 1-0, and they were able to add onto the lead in the top of the fifth inning when Lindsey Gillis brought home Mary Madison Kelley with a sacrifice fly to left to double the advantage to 2-0.
The Wildcats offense threatened to score in the bottom of the fifth, but a lineout to Dearman ended a bases-loaded opportunity for the home team. They were right back to work in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out, an error started a stretch of five straight reaching base, with three scoring to give Pearl River their first and only lead of the game at 3-2 going into the top of the seventh.
Northwest didn't go down without a fight, getting a leadoff single by Sela Mancini and putting another on when Jennings reached with two outs, but a game-ending strikeout finished off the Rangers' chances of tying or taking the lead as they dropped the back half of the doubleheader 3-2.
Dearman showed a strong ability to bounce back after a tough outing on Thursday afternoon against Copiah-Lincoln Community College (44-5, 25-3), only giving up three runs, two of which were earned, and working around 13 baserunners to keep the Rangers in the game, striking out three.
UP NEXT –
The Rangers now look ahead to the Region 23 Tournament, heading to Wesson where they will be the fifth overall seed and will face LSU-Eunice (34-15) in the opening round on Sunday evening at 6:00 P.M. at Lady Wolves Field.
The winner of that game will face the winner of Co-Lin and either Hinds Community College (33-16, 16-12) or Southwest Mississippi Community College (28-16, 15-13) on Monday at 1:00 P.M., while the loser will play at 4:00 P.M. in an elimination game.
For more information on the Region 23 Tournament, visit nwccrangers.com or follow along on Ranger social media accounts.
