Villian Chris Gullick Homers For The Rangers
Five players collected at least two hits each to help the Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers pound the Southwest Tennessee Saluqis 15-1 in the first game of a doubleheader March 25 at Ranger Field in Senatobia.
Southwest Tennessee claimed the second contest 9-7 to move Northwest’s record to 13-9.
In the opener, the Rangers racked up 15 hits in all. Sophomore outfielder Seth Walker of Covington, Tenn., had three of those hits including his second home run of the spring with a two-run shot in the second inning.
Northwest sophomore shortstop Justin Stevens of Southaven belted a grand slam in the second frame for his first home run of the season to help the Rangers build a 9-0 lead after the first two innings.
Northwest pushed six more runs across the plate in the third inning to put the game away. Freshman Seth Milliorn of Olive Branch provided a two-run single, while Alan Mathis of Memphis, Davis Horton of Oxford, and Kyle Aldridge of Olive Branch all added RBI-singles.
Ranger freshman pitcher Matt Shaw of Oxford tossed the first four innings and got his first decision of the season in moving his record to 1-0. Shaw allowed just one earned run and three hits, while striking out three.
Northwest held a 6-3 advantage after the first four innings in the nightcap, but couldn’t stop a late rally by Southwest Tennessee.
The Rangers used two-run homers from sophomore Ryan Embrey of Senatobia and freshman Chris Gullick of Water Valley, and an RBI-single from Milliorn to grab the three-run lead.
The Saluqis scored two runs in both the fifth and six frames to take a 7-6 lead.
Northwest tied the game at 7-7 in the bottom half of the sixth when Walker scored on Milliorn’s second double of the contest. Milliorn collected four of the Rangers’ 10 hits, while freshman Tyler Benson of Batesville had two.
Southwest Tennessee won the game by hitting a pair of solo homers in the top of the seventh off Northwest relief pitcher Mark Husband of Tunica. Husband shouldered the loss to drop his record to 0-1.
The Rangers travel to Fulton Saturday, March 28 to face the Itawamba Indians. The MACJC?north division doubleheader starts at 3 p.m.
Northwest, which is 7-1 in the north, trails division-leading Itawamba by one game in the standings. The Indians are 8-0 in division play.
