Booneville, Miss. – Ben Hellums is adjusting nicely to his new role of coming out of the bullpen for the nationally ranked Northeast Mississippi Community College baseball team.
For the second weekend in a row, Hellums picked up a win in relief for the No. 19 Tigers in an 8-6 victory over Holmes Community College on Saturday at Harold T. White Field.
The 6-8, 174-pound right-hander tossed the second-most complete games of any Northeast athlete during his freshman season of 2013. But Hellums is relishing his altered post and has been highly effective in his last five appearances.
"It's worked out so far so I can't argue at all with it," said Hellums. "I just throw strikes and try to get outs because I know my defense is going to make plays."
The Bulldogs jumped off to a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Tigers starter Dustin Allen before Hellums took the hill. He got a huge out without slinging a pitch by picking off Deion Ulmer at second base.
Chad McNeil did hit a RBI double to straightaway centerfield to extend the Holmes advantage to 3-0, but Hellums (2-0) sat down seven of the next eight Bulldog batters to give Northeast a chance to comeback.
The Tigers began their come-from-behind effort in the bottom of the third. Scott Pala walked to lead off the frame and scored on Luke Stanley's opposite field double down the right field line.
Jordan Montgomery beat out an infield single on the next play and advanced to second base on a throwing error. Stanley also touched home plate on the Holmes mistake to cut Northeast's deficit to 3-2.
Trent Turner then deadlocked the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly that plated Montgomery to wrap up the third.
After Easton Hall started a beautiful double play that helped set Holmes down in order, the Tigers (11-11, 4-2) took control of the contest in the latter half of the fourth.
Ben Foster reached on a five-pitch walk and eventually scored on Stanley's RBI single. Turner followed suit three batters later with a hit up the middle that brought home two men to put Northeast ahead 6-3.
Holmes scratched a run across on an error in the fifth, but Jack Hurdle made up for it in the Tigers' next turn at bat. The freshman from Byhalia crushed the first home run of his collegiate career over the left field fence.
The two-run shot extended Northeast's advantage to 8-4 and put the matchup out of reach for the Bulldogs (17-9, 2-6).
"It just feels like a monkey off my back," Hurdle said. "It was one of those that was no doubt. Every guy out here could do it. It just happened to be me today."
Holmes got within 8-6 after Jaylan Bledsoe's two RBI double and made things interesting in the seventh.
Two singles and a hit batsman loaded the bases with just one out in the frame. But Evan Hickman settled in and recorded a strikeout and infield popup to clinch the victory and earn his fourth save of the campaign.
"We did some good things on the base paths and were able to put a little pressure on them," said Tigers headman Kent Farris. "We did a good job out of the bullpen by holding them and we had some guys come up with some clutch hits."
Clyde Kendrick (3-2) allowed five earned runs on six hits and three walks in the game one loss for the Bulldogs.
A four-run second inning put Holmes up early again in the nightcap, but Northeast responded just as it did opener.
Turner took the second pitch of the bottom half over the left field wall for a solo home run. His team-high third long ball of the season got the Tigers on the scoreboard.
The Bulldog pitching duo of J.R. Hall and Jared Bailey then walked four of the next six batters. Colby Williams drew a full count base on balls to force Pala in and make it a 4-2 ballgame.
Northeast put together a two-out rally one inning later to tie the contest at 4-4. Montgomery, who was courtesy running for Riley Alef, and Hall touched home on Drew Wray's single to right field.
Cole Feazell (2-2), however, pitched four scoreless frames from that point to claim the win and lift Holmes to a 9-4 decision and a split of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division series.
The Bulldogs added five runs over the final four innings, two on Bledsoe's third double of the afternoon.
Ethan Taylor (1-1) gave up only two earned runs in 3.1 innings and was the pitcher of record. Townsend Myers, Mason Maxey and David Gibson had flawless relief stints behind Taylor.
Heath Wood, Alef, Montgomery and Turner each had a pair of base knocks during the doubleheader. Turner, a native of Brandon, had four RBIs to lead the offensive production.
Northeast returns to the diamond on Wednesday, March 26 with a road trip to Mississippi Delta Community College. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jimmy Bellipanni Field.