Booneville, Miss. – Walter Rook and the Northeast Mississippi Community College baseball program completed a busy weekend on the diamond with a pair of firsts.
Rook claimed his initial win at the collegiate level while the Tigers captured their inaugural sweep under the direction of head coach Richy Harrelson with 3-2 and 6-3 decisions against Lake Land (Ill.) College on Sunday, February 28 at Harold T. White Field.
"This was a really good day," said Harrelson. "One of the things that we've done is challenge them to have a lot more fun and quit being so hard on themselves. They've done a great job. They've bought in to what we want them to do and we've just got to keep them going."
Rook (1-0) did not disappoint with a solid performance in the nightcap after receiving the starting nod. He lasted four-plus innings and allowed only one run on four hits with four strikeouts as well.
"I'm really excited. That was a lot of fun," Rook said. "It's pretty big for me just to get the monkey off my back. I'd like to thank my defense for helping me out. Now I know I can go out and do it again."
Behind Rook was solid relief work from the tandem of Hunter Bronson, Reid Carter, Ben Gregory and Taylor Bobo. They combined to toss the final three frames with Bobo notching the first save of his career at Northeast.
The Tigers erased an early 1-0 deficit with an outstanding fourth inning. Bailey Walker led off for Northeast with a single, stole second and then scored on Eric Patterson's double down the left field line.
Twin brothers Eli Murphree and John Murphree, who batted back-to-back in the lineup for the first time this season, connected on two straight hits that brought home John David Poss and Patterson.
Garrison Howell capped the successful frame with an opposite field two-RBI single. Northeast sent 10 total men to the plate and scored five runs to take a lead that it did not relinquish.
The Tigers added an insurance run one inning later with a two-out rally. A.J. Roaton had a pinch-hit single and came around to score on Austin Marlin's sharp grounder that rolled safely into the outfield between the shortstop and third baseman.
The Lakers (1-7) pieced together a small resurgence in the sixth with a pair of runs and had a chance to cut into its deficit even more with two players on base with only one out.
But Gregory recorded a looking strikeout and Marlin caught Lake Land's runner at first base too far off the bag for a huge pickoff. The unorthodox double play all but clinched the victory for Northeast.
John Murphree emerged from a small slump after beginning his freshman campaign with zero base knocks in six official at bats. He accounted for the first two hits and RBI of his tenure with the Tigers during the finale against Lake Land.
"Coach (Harrelson) has been talking about keeping a positive attitude and that's what I did," he said. "It just felt good to get in the hit column. I kept swinging and good things happened."
The Tigers trailed twice in the opener by scores of 1-0 and 2-1 following RBIs from Adam Cox and Jacob Cribbett. But Northeast swiftly responded each time the Lakers jumped ahead.
Andrew Lambert evened the contest in the bottom of the third with a RBI groundout that plated Poss. Poss then delivered a clutch hit of his own with a single up the middle that let Eli Murphree come home to tie the game at 2-2 after six innings.
The Tigers (5-7) picked up the triumph in walkoff fashion during their last turn at the dish. Howell walked and Lambert's single placed runners at the corners with nobody out.
Lake Land intentionally walked Walker to load the bases for Daniel Calvery, who watched a full count pitch sail high of the strike zone to force in the winning run from third base and send the Northeast dugout into a celebration.
Josh Stillman took a no decision, but was stellar for the Tigers with eight punch outs compared to three free passes in 5.2 frames. Bobo (2-0) earned his second victory in as many days out of the bullpen.