Booneville, Miss. - Blake Harwell more than doubled the energy level in the packed bleachers of Harold T. White Field and in the Northeast Mississippi Community College dugout with one swing of the bat on Saturday.
Harwell delivered a clutch double with the bases loaded in the Tigers' final turn at bat against Northwest Mississippi Community College, but the Rangers held on for a 5-4 win to finish the sweep following a 6-3 triumph in game one.
Northeast entered the bottom of the seventh down 5-1 after Townsend Myers kept the Rangers off the scoreboard for the first time since the second inning.
Northwest starter Tanner Cable had allowed only two hits through six frames on the mound. But Cable (3-2) issued two straight walks to begin the seventh to set the stage for a rally by the Tigers.
Drew Wray and Harwell greeted new Ranger pitcher Cody Waddell rudely. Wray took a two-strike pitch the opposite way for a single to fill the bags with Northeast runners.
Harwell then connected on a one ball, one strike offering from Waddell and crushed it off the top of the left field wall, just inches from tying the contest on a grand slam. The double plated Trent Turner and Cody Bo Dillard to cut the Tigers' deficit to 5-3.
"I feel like it kinda pumped everybody up. I know it pumped me up when I hit it," said Harwell, a Lake Cormorant product. "He left a changeup up and I got the barrel to it. It just felt great to do something good for the team."
Luke Stanley made the score 5-4 in favor of Northwest with a RBI groundout that allowed Wray to come home, but Tyler Scholl got the final out to cause Northeast's come-from-behind effort to fall just shy of the mark.
The Rangers started a stretch of scoring at least one run for four straight innings during the third when Kody Kimbrough knocked a solo homer off the scoreboard and Kramer Hollenbach grounded out to plate Jay King.
Kimbrough came through for Northwest (20-12, 8-6) again one frame later with a sacrifice fly that scored Taylor King and extended the Rangers' lead to 3-0.
Easton Hall finally got the Northeast offense into action during the fourth with a leadoff double over the head of Hollenbach in left field. He then took third base on a wild pitch and touched home on Turner's sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
Jay King got that run back in the following inning for Northwest with a solo shot that barely got over the fence in left field. The Rangers added what turned out to be the decisive score on James Lear's RBI single in the sixth.
Ethan Taylor (2-2) took the loss for the Tigers after giving up four runs in 4.1 innings. He conceded seven hits and four walks on the afternoon.
Northeast took an early 2-0 lead after three frames in the opener after Turner blasted a RBI double and Heath Wood scored on a wild pitch.
Back-to-back doubles by Taylor King and Stephen Sexton tied the contest at 2-2. However, the deadlock was short lived after Jordan Montgomery raced home on Turner's single up the middle during the bottom of the fifth.
Ben Hellums took over for Dillard, who started for the Tigers (16-14, 9-5), in the fifth and sat down five of the initial six batters he faced.
Northwest, though, got to Hellums (2-1) in the seventh and loaded the bases with only one out on a single, walk and hit batsman. An error, two wild pitches and a passed ball helped the Rangers score four runs in the inning and put the matchup out of reach for Northeast.
Matt Ferguson (4-3) was the winning pitcher for Northwest while Domenick Carlini tossed the final three frames to grab his second save of the season.
"The things that we have been doing so well, we didn't do as good a job on today," Tigers head coach Kent Farris said. "The bullpen faltered in a couple of places and we had several opportunities on offense, but couldn't get the big hit.
"I was proud of the way the kids battled back there at the end. We've just got to get our heads screwed on right and get ready for our next games."
Hall led Northeast with three hits in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division doubleheader. Harwell and Turner also tallied two base knocks apiece.
Dustin Allen and Mason Maxey tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball during the latter half of the first contest while Myers was all but flawless in his game two relief stint.
The Tigers aim to get back to their victorious ways on Wednesday, April 9 when they visit archrival Itawamba Community College. First pitch for the opening matchup of the league doubleheader, a nine-inning affair, is slated for 4 p.m. at Roy Cresap Field.