Raymond, Miss. – Tanner Whitaker's second career outing on the campus of Hinds Community College certainly went better than the first.

Whitaker sat down three straight batters out of the bullpen to earn his initial collegiate victory in a 9-8 triumph by Northeast Mississippi Community College over St. Louis (Mo.) Community College in the 2014 Wes Cliburn Memorial Tournament on Friday, March 7.

The right-hander from Iuka allowed five earned runs in 1.1 innings in a run-rule loss to Hinds on February 21. It took Whitaker only 12 pitches to take care of business this time around in a crucial situation at Joe G. Moss Field.

Jacob Walters had just belted his second home run of the day to put the Archers ahead 8-6 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Whitaker (1-0) relieved Tiger starter Tyler Cox and induced three quick fly outs to stop the damage.

"I felt like I didn't really have much on my shoulders," said Whitaker. "I just needed to go out there and throw the ball and get outs. It's weird to think that the win goes to me."

Northeast jumped back ahead for good in the sixth with a three-run frame. Riley Alef doubled past a diving third baseman to cut the Tigers' deficit to 8-7.

Drew Wray gave Northeast the lead for good one batter later when he delivered a two RBI single that scored Josh Peterson and courtesy runner Scott Pala.

Mason Maxey and Evan Hickman combined to strike out three and allow just one base runner over the final two innings to seal a big comeback by the Tigers. Hickman earned his second save of the season with a scoreless seventh.

"Here for the last week and a half, our guys on the mound have done a good job competing, throwing strikes and keeping the ball down in the zone," said Northeast head coach Kent Farris. "I can't say enough about the job that they did today."

A back-and-forth start to the matchup saw the Tigers (7-7) take a 4-1 advantage in the third thanks to four straight walks, an error and a RBI groundout by Trent Turner.

Long balls over the next two frames by Adam Springmeyer and Walters knotted the game before a Thomas Estopare grounder plated Colin Zurweller to give St. Louis (2-1) a 5-4 lead.

Northeast returned the favor in the fifth when Jack Hurdle's one-hopper off the wall brought home Pala to even the score. Luke Stanley put the Tigers up 6-5 shortly after that when he slid onto the plate safely on a passed ball.

Jay Heller (0-1) was the loser for the Archers after scattering four earned runs and seven hits over 3.2 innings.

Northeast 12, Kishwaukee 2 (5 Inn.)

After a slow start to the opening contest of the day, the Tigers opened the flood gates in the third to get Cody Bo Dillard (1-2) his first win in a Northeast uniform.

Dillard, an East Union High School product, gave up only two runs and one hit in four frames of work. The lefty struck out five and walked two.

"I love being in the game," said Dillard. "It feels good. I just hit my spots more, but I've still got a lot of things to work on."

Alef broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third and got the Tiger offense into motion with a sacrifice fly that plated Heath Wood for a 1-0 lead.

Jordan Montgomery then delivered the big blow with a RBI double down the left field line. Pala scored a run on a fielding error and Stanley tacked on a single to wrap up a four run inning by Northeast.

The Kougars (0-1) scratched a run off Dillard one frame later on a double by Brad Speek that was lost in the sun by the Tiger outfield.

Northeast got the run back and more in the latter half and chased Kishwaukee starter Kyle Lawson (0-1) in the process. Montgomery had a RBI single while Ben Foster and Alef brought runners home using a ground out and fielding error, respectively.

Nick Brandt plated Kyle Massie on a hit in the fifth for Kishwaukee, but the Tigers added five more runs in their turn at bat to invoke the run-rule and end the game early.

Easton Hall and Turner connected on back-to-back extra base hits to inflict a majority of the harm. Hall, a New Albany native, pulled a double into the right field corner while Brandon's Turner launched a two-run home run.

Turner's long ball over the left field wall was the first of his collegiate career and put Northeast ahead 10-2.

"It felt really good," said Turner. "I tried to stay with what we've been told us all the time about staying on your back side."

Jack Hurdle tallied the final runs on a walkoff single that plated Wray and Foster on a fielding error in the outfield, as well.

"Anytime you can win on the road it's good," Farris said. "It's been a good last week and hopefully the weather's going to warm up and we will too."

Ben Hellums tossed the final inning for Northeast and gave up one hit with one strikeout.