MOORHEAD - The Northwest Mississippi Community College baseball team (12-7) split a doubleheader with fellow MACCC opponents Mississippi Delta Community College (4-10) and Meridian Community College (11-5) on Wednesday afternoon at the Jimmy Bellipanni Baseball Complex in a nonconference matchup.
Game 1 - NWCC 8 Mississippi Delta 5
Trailing by four runs going into the seventh inning, NWCC's offense showed up when it mattered most to pull out the 8-5 victory.
Although the team only had five hits in seven innings, the team also had five RBIs, seven walks, and one batter hit-by-pitch. The combination of base runners and patience of a Northwest batter to take a walk allowed Northwest to put pressure on Mississippi Delta and produce a seven run seventh inning that proved to be the difference maker in the win.
With four RBIs on two hits, the MVP for the Rangers was sophomore Caleb Doty. The moment of the game for Northwest was Doty's homerun that gave NWCC the belief that they could come back from a four run deficit late in the game.
Will Howell got the start once again for the Rangers and went five innings while allowing four runs, three of which were earned, on four hits while striking out six.
Sophomore South McCoy came in to close the game out in the seventh inning and faced the minimum, striking out one on the way to earning the save.
Game 2 - NWCC 9 Meridian 12
After going into the fifth inning with a six run lead, the Rangers gave up eight runs in the last three innings and ultimately suffered a defeat at the hands of the Eagles.
The Rangers struggled to find a hit throughout the game and only accumulated three hits in seven innings. Early in the game, NWCC capitalized on a struggling Meridian pitching staff, accumulating 11 walks.
Hayes Hooker provided one of the highlights for the Rangers by hitting a three-run home run with the other two hits coming from Josh Pena and Doty. Although they were not garnering hits, Northwest was able to move the runners around the bases by stealing a grand total of eight bases.
The pitching for the Rangers struggled and ultimately gave up 12 runs, 10 hits, and seven walks. Mac Atkins got the start for the Rangers and went four innings while allowing four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out five.
John Griffin Lane came in for relief and ultimately ended up being credited with the loss after only making it through two-thirds of an inning, allowing four runs on two hits. Sophomore Gideon Deaton also came in for relief and pitched for one inning while allowing three runs on three hits while striking out one. The final pitcher for the Rangers was Barrett McKenney and the freshman allowed one run on one hit and struck out two.
UP NEXT
Tomorrow at 2 p.m., the Rangers host #15 Parkland at Jim Miles Field in a single game in one of their final contests before entering conference play. They will also play Coahoma Community College on Friday afternoon in a late addition to the schedule after games against Southern Arkansas University Tech were cancelled due to weather.
All NWCC home games will be streamed on https://nwccrangers.com/watch/.
To stay up to date on the NWCC baseball team, follow the Ranger social media accounts or go to nwccrangers.com.
