SUMMIT – The #25 Northwest Mississippi Community College baseball team (23-12, 10-4) picked up a split with Southwest Mississippi Community College (24-16, 8-8) on Friday afternoon, picking up a narrow 4-1 win in game one behind a strong performance from sophomore Tyce Powers before falling in game two 9-3.
"It was really good to get a great outing from Tyce Powers in the game one and set the tone of the game," Head Coach Mark Carson said. "He was very competitive on the mound for us. Game two was kind of the opposite and we did not get out of the gates well at all and it cost us."
GAME 1 – NWCC 4 Southwest Mississippi 1
The Rangers traded zeroes with the Bears in the opening two frames before Northwest picked up the opening runs in the top of the third inning on a two out rally that was keyed by an RBI single from South McCoy brought home John Whit Snopek and Mason McMillin to give NWCC the 2-0 lead.
Southwest cut into that lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when a leadoff walk moved into scoring position on a stolen base and a wild throw and was brough home by a single to cut the lead in half.
That would be the only damage done against the starter as Powers was removed from the game one inning later after throwing 116 pitches through five innings, but he would leave with the lead intact and on the right side of what would be his fourth win of the season in seven starts.
Some insurance was picked up in the top of the sixth inning for Northwest on a Barrett McKenney single to left field scored Snopek for a second time after he led off the inning with a walk, and one more in the top of the ninth on a Walker Sanders RBI single that took advantage of a pair of hits from Snopek and Mason Gillentine to lead off the inning.
Connor Young was given the ball in relief for the Rangers starter in the top of the sixth, working three strong innings before he was pulled in the top of the ninth after walking the first batter he saw.
That gave way to Preston Johnson and the freshman continued to show why he is becoming one of the more reliable options for the Rangers out of the bullpen, forcing the Bears into a ground ball double play before getting a fly out the end the game and guarantee at least a split of the series.
"Young and Johnson were equally as good (as Tyce), being able to get us to the finish line out of the bullpen," Carson praised. "We continued to get timely hits and played well defensively and that was a key part in getting the win in game one."
Johnson earned the save in relief for his first of his collegiate career, joining McCoy as the only Rangers with saves on the season. Powers improved to 4-1 on the year and dropped his ERA to 3.79 with 35.2 innings of work.
GAME 2 – NWCC 3 Southwest Mississippi 9
Both starting pitchers struggled out of the gate in the second game although it was the Rangers who felt the brunt of the blows in the first two innings.
Eli Deberry got the ball in the second game for Northwest and after giving up a leadoff home run to Southwest, seemed to settle into the game by retiring the next two batters. A walk and three consecutive two out singles changed the dynamic of the inning though to make it 3-0, with a play at the plate on an attempted steal of home being the difference in Northwest getting out of the inning with no more damage done.
McKenney doubled to lead off the top of the second inning to put the gears into motion on a Ranger rally, and he was brought home on an RBI groundout two batters latter from Evan Lightsey to cut the lead to 3-1, and a double from Johnson set up an RBI single by Hayes Hooker to close it to a 3-2 lead.
Southwest answered again in the bottom of the second with another two out rally that chased away Deberry and with two outs and a 6-2 lead for the Bears, Tyler Sullivan was called on to close the inning.
Both sides went 1-2-3 in the third inning and Northwest started to build some momentum with a walk to McKenney and a triple from McCoy leading off the fourth inning to make it a 6-3 game. A pop out in foul territory followed by a line out to first and a strikeout would strand McCoy at third to stall the momentum.
That would be the last time the Rangers would strike in the game as they were unable to solve the Bears bullpen, going 1-2-3 in both the fifth and the sixth innings. Meanwhile, the Bears were able to pick up three more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on four singles that were spread out against Sullivan to push the lead to six.
Northwest had their best opportunity to get back into the game in the top of the seventh when they loaded the bases on a double from Johnson and walks to Gillentine and Snopek but two strikeouts in the inning including one looking to close the game handed the Rangers their only loss of the week.
"Their bullpen did a really good job of shutting our offense down," Head Coach Mark Carson said. We weren't able to put enough together to scratch back into it."
Sullivan continued his strong season in relief, increasing his team leading innings pitched total to 37.1 in 11 appearances with his second longest outing of the year, only behind 6.1 innings he pitched against Southwest Illinois College on February 21st. The loss went to Deberry, dropping the sophomore to 1-4 on the season.
UP NEXT –
The Rangers return home on Wednesday afternoon when they will play host to Northeast Mississippi Community College (20-19, 7-7) in a double header with game one set to begin at 3 P.M. and game two to follow at 6 P.M., or a half hour after the completion of game one.
Northwest also has a Saturday home double header with Hinds Community College (25-12, 11-5) with game times set for 2 and 5 P.M. at Jim Miles Field. Hinds enters the week just one game behind Northwest in the conference standings.
You can find more information on the NWCC baseball schedule by visiting nwccrangers.com and you can keep up with Northwest baseball by following along with Ranger social media accounts.
