RAYMOND – It was a tough day to close out the road trip for the #17 Northwest Mississippi Community College softball team (22-13, 14-6) as they dropped both ends of a double header at #19 Hinds Community College (26-13, 13-5), falling in a run shortened opening game 11-3 before dropping the second game 3-0 in a pitcher's duel.
The losses dropped the Rangers to fourth in the conference and two games behind both #6 Jones College (32-7, 16-4) and #3 Pearl River Community College (27-5, 16-4) going into the final eight games of the season.
GAME 1 - #17 NWCC 3 #19 Hinds 11
The first inning was a tough start for the Rangers who saw the Eagles strike for four runs including three scoring with two outs when a double, a triple, and a single all came in consecutive trips to the plate.
Lindsey Gillis closed the inning to help the Rangers to the dugout with her twelfth caught stealing of the year, which continues to set the record for the most in a single season for the Rangers.
Northwest answered back with an individual run in the top of the third after Emma Jennings took home on a double steal with Handley McAtee stealing second, closing it to 4-1. They added another two runs in the top of the fifth when McAtee doubled in Jennings and Gillis to close it to a one run game.
The game went sideways for the Rangers in the bottom of the fifth when Hinds led off the inning with an inside-the-park home run followed by a two-run blast over the left field fence to make it 7-3 and erase the progress made by the Rangers to close the gap.
Kate Johnson entered the game to pitch in the place of Brown, but she would walk the next three batters and quickly was changed for Sydney Hersom. Herson got two of the next three Eagles out, but after a walk to load the bases, she gave up a single which gave up the walk-off run for Hinds as they took the 11-3 win.
GAME 2 - #17 NWCC 0 #19 Hinds 3
It was a much more productive start on the defensive side of the ball for the Rangers to shake off the problems from the opening game of the double header.
Both teams threw up zeroes in the first two innings until the Eagles struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, first on an RBI single and again on a passed ball that allowed for a runner to cross the plate with two outs.
Northwest loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with two outs, getting singles from Londen Armstrong and Jennings to go with a walk to Allyson Christmas, but a fly ball would get Hinds out of the inning with the Rangers still scoreless and trailing 2-0.
The Rangers continued to threaten in the top of the fifth and sixth inning, but still couldn't manage to break through, and Hinds capitalized again in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single making it 3-0.
The top of the order was due up for the Rangers in the seventh, but it would end up being a 1-2-3 inning that finished off the day and saw Northwest shut out for just the third time this season and the first time in conference play.
Dearman took the loss, going the distance while only giving up three runs, and only two of those would be earned.
UP NEXT
The Rangers will set their sights on a double header with Holmes Community College (24-22, 8-12) on Wednesday afternoon looking to keep themselves in shouting distance of the top two spots in the standings. Game times are set for 4 and 6 PM at the Ranger Softball Field with streaming found at nwccrangers.com/watch.
That series will lead into the final home games of the regular season for Northwest on Saturday when the Rangers host #5 Copiah-Lincoln Community College (36-5, 17-3) for a weekend series with game times at 1 and 3 PM.
