The Northwest Mississippi Community College baseball team completed a doubleheader sweep of Illinois Central College on Saturday, improving to 8-3 overall. The Rangers opened with a 4-1 win and clinched the sweep with a 6-5 walk-off victory in nine innings, according to head coach Mark Carson.
In the first game, Northwest jumped ahead early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. John Whit Snopek hit a home run to bring home Hallas Lawson, who had led off with a walk. Illinois Central responded with a run in the top of the third, but Northwest added insurance runs in the third and fourth innings via RBI singles from Barrett McKenney and Evan Lightsey. Tyce Powers earned his first win of the season, pitching five innings with nine strikeouts and one unearned run. Connor Young finished the game for the Rangers.
The second game saw the Rangers score four runs in the bottom of the first inning, aided by errors and wild pitches from Caleb Bieneman. Northwest extended its lead to 5-3 after a sacrifice fly from South McCoy in the fifth. Illinois Central rallied in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs to tie the game at 5-5. Both teams had chances in extra innings, but it was Northwest that secured the win in the bottom of the ninth. Hayes Hooker, a freshman, hit a line drive inside third base to bring home Josh Pena for the winning run. McCoy pitched 2.2 innings of relief to earn the win.
Hooker credited staying focused in a tense situation. “I just tried to stay small and be simple. It happened to fall our way,” he said. The victory marked the third straight win for Northwest, which is 7-1 against NJCAA Division II opponents. The team has a busy week ahead, with doubleheaders against Northeast Mississippi and Itawamba Community colleges and upcoming tournament play in Tennessee.
Hooker emphasized the team’s unity and ongoing work. “We still have a lot to improve on, especially with conference play coming up,” he said. Fans can follow schedule updates on nwccrangers.com and on the team’s social media accounts.
