Goodman, Miss. – Bianca Chagolla rose to the occasion when her Northeast Mississippi Community College teammates needed her the most on Tuesday.
After a tough call reversed a huge play and shifted the momentum near the conclusion of the first contest at Holmes Community College, Chagolla tossed a complete game to help the Tigers rebound with a 4-2 victory over the Bulldogs.
The right-hander from Riverside, Calif., struck out a season-high seven batters and allowed zero earned runs on just four hits and two walks.
"It was a really big comeback because if not we would have been in a really bad situation," said Chagolla. "I think our team knew that and we just wanted to get that win."
Northeast gave Chagolla an early 1-0 lead in the second when Avery Springer took a Brett Whitlock (7-6) pitch the opposite way for a RBI double that barely landed inside fair territory.
Trenisha King extended the Tigers' advantage to 2-0 one frame later on a RBI single that plated Chelsea Buntin.
Holmes manufactured a run in the bottom half when Tam Jenkins reached on a fielding error, advanced to second on a wild pitch, took third on a passed ball and scored on Kelsey Kelly's groundout.
King delivered again for Northeast (12-20, 7-5) in the fifth with her third base knock of the day, a double off the right field wall, which put the Tigers ahead 3-1.
More miscues in the field caused another Holmes runner to touch home plate on Kelly's fielder's choice that cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 3-2.
Bre Agnew erased that run, however, on the third pitch of the next inning with a solo shot over the left field fence. Her team-best fifth long ball of the year gave Chagolla some extra breathing room and accounted for the winning margin.
Holmes threatened in the latter half of the sixth after putting two ladies on base with only one out. But Chagolla (5-8) struck out two straight batters to halt the Bulldogs' final scoring opportunity.
Springer, a Houston native, went 2 for 3 in the nightcap for the third multiple hit performance of her career and the first in nearly three weeks.
"I was just really happy that I did well because lately I've been in a pretty big slump," Springer said. "Coming out of it and scoring some runs and helping the team today meant a lot."
Northeast leaped out front 1-0 in second inning of the opening contest after a Haley Christian double that plated Agnew.
The Tigers maintained that advantage with Chelsea Buntin dealing in the circle. The reigning Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) Pitcher of the Week sat down 15 of the initial 16 batters that she faced through five frames.
Holmes (12-15, 7-5) was able to knot the game at 1-1 in the sixth when Karina Brown singled and scored on another Kelly groundout.
Neither squad was able to dent the scoreboard in the seventh to force extra innings with the international tie breaker rule, the last runner to get out in the previous frame starts on second base, in effect.
King appeared to do major damage on the first pitch of the eighth with a two-run home run to nearly straightaway center field, but upon appeal and a conference by the officiating crew she was called out for missing home plate.
The play instead stood as a RBI triple for King that scored Mirah Terry to make it 2-1 in favor of the Tigers, but the energy had shifted to the Holmes dugout.
The Bulldogs retired two batters in a row to end the top half and then took the matchup by plating a pair of runs on singles by Keana Wash and Michelle Gregory.
Buntin (6-9) stood as the hard-luck loser for Northeast with six hits and two walks given up in 7.1 innings of work.
"They responded well to a tough situation and our kids still competed," said Tigers headman Jody Long. "It was huge for us to bounce back. Our team is finally starting to play softball like I think they're capable of."
A freshman out of Alcorn Central High School, Buntin topped the Tigers on offense with four hits. Booneville's Agnew had three base knocks and three runs scored.
With the split at Holmes, Northeast concluded the first half of MACJC North Division competition in a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot with the Bulldogs. The Tigers, however, sit just one game behind second place.
Northeast begins the second rotation of league action on Friday, March 28 at rival Itawamba Community College. The Tigers and No. 19 Indians are set for a 3 p.m. start in Fulton.