Senatobia, Miss. – Tyler Cox is not used to coming out of the bullpen late in a game, but the powerful right-hander was effective in that role for Northeast Mississippi Community College on Wednesday, March 12.
Cox worked around a major threat by Northwest Mississippi Community College in the eighth inning to claim a hard fought 2-1 victory in extras during a battle of nationally ranked teams at Jim Miles Field.
The Rangers took the first matchup in another pitchers duel 2-0 to split the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division opener for both schools.
Northwest greeted Cox, who entered to begin the eighth, with two straight singles by Kramer Hollenbach and Chase Clark. Taylor King then reached on a fielding error to load the bases with nobody out.
But the University of Kentucky transfer sat down three straight batters from that point with strikeouts, including Aaron McAlexander's swing and miss for the final out, to send the Tiger dugout into a frenzy and clinch his first save.
"There was a little more pressure, but I wasn't worried," said Cox. "I just had to throw strikes and I knew my team was going to back me up."
Northeast, which is ranked No. 19 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) countrywide poll, plated the go-ahead run in the top half after the Rangers forced free baseball.
J.R. Miller (2-1) plunked Easton Hall to lead off the frame. Hall advanced to third base on another hit by pitch and a Cody Bo Dillard single.
Josh Peterson then lifted a ball to left field for a sacrifice fly that brought Hall home. The Arvada, Colo., native also had two base knocks for the initial multiple hit game of his collegiate career.
"The whole approach at the plate that they've been trying to teach me, I struggled with it a little bit at the beginning of the year. But now I'm starting to get a hold of it," Peterson said. "I'm starting to see the ball a lot better now which is starting to help."
The Tigers (8-8, 1-1) took an early lead when Heath Wood singled and then scored on Dillard's first of two base hits.
Ethan Taylor was solid in five innings of work and made the 1-0 score stand. Taylor, an Arkansas Tech University signee, struck out five with only three hits and one walk allowed.
No. 13 Northwest (10-6, 1-1) knotted the contest at 1-1 in the sixth when James Lear touched home plate on James Clark's fielder's choice.
Evan Hickman relieved Tyler Nelms and stopped the Ranger damage by getting Hunter Austin to strike out. Hickman (2-0) grabbed the win with three strikeouts in two innings.
"We've consistently gotten better since about the second week of the season," said Northeast head coach Kent Farris. "It's been a group effort and our guys are getting better."
Northwest plated two runs off Tiger starter Dustin Allen (0-1) in the lid lifter. Tanner Densford had a RBI single in the second while Austin followed suit in the next frame.
Riley Alef and Ben Foster attempted a seventh inning rally with back-to-back singles with two outs, but Matt Ferguson (2-2) left the New Albany products stranded to finish the complete game effort.
Allen gave up five hits and four walks in 2.2 innings. Ben Hellums and Blake Drabik tossed the final 3.1 frames with no runs allowed and four strikeouts.
"It was two good ball clubs going after each other," Farris said. "It was just typical MACJC North Division play."
Wood had two base knocks in the doubleheader while Northeast had just two errors in 15 innings of action.