Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA – Northwestern closed out the series with the East Central Tigers with the final two games Saturday afternoon. The Rangers got off to a fast start in both wins scoring in the first two innings. After the second inning in Game 1 the Rangers led 9-0, and in Game 2 were winning 6-1. Northwestern closed out the series win behind a 10-0 victory before clinching the series sweep with a 15-2 win in the series finale.

The Rangers on the season are now 26-12 with a 16-8 Great American Conference record following the two wins and are 19-4 at Glass Family Field at Myers Stadium. Northwestern is now tied for first place in the conference with Arkansas Tech and Arkansas Monticello, all at 16-8.

Game 1

Northwestern was led in hitting by Carson Wright and Trevor Saire, each with two hits in the win. Wright, Paul Sachen, Trevor Saire and Zach Vetal each had two RBIs in the game as team highs. Will Kates threw 6.1 scoreless innings before Toborg closed out the seventh inning. The Rangers took the game in seven innings.

The Rangers continued right where the team left off after Game 1 of the series. Will Kates struck out two Tigers in the first inning before the offense responded with a four spot. The inning started with a Bradford walk and stolen base before a Carson Wright triple scored Bradford for the game's first run. Green followed with an RBI double and an early 2-0 lead. With the bases loaded Zach Vetal stepped up and delivered a two-RBI double off the wall for the 4-0 early lead in the opening inning.

East Central loaded the bases in the second inning looking to get some of the runs back but a ground out to Wiltshire ended the inning keeping the Rangers with the four-run lead. Northwestern's offense struck again in the second inning as with a runner on second Wright hit a single through the left side scoring Bradford for the 5-0 lead. Sachen then delivered a two-run home run to right field for the 7-0 lead. After Colby Grace was hit by a pitch, Saire followed with a two-run home run, the team's second of the inning for the 9-0 lead.

East Central, looking to get a run back, put runners in scoring position, as a single and a double set up second and third but a ground out to Grace ended their half of the inning with Northwestern still leading 9-0.

After the game remained 9-0 for four straight innings, the Tigers had a chance to score in the seventh with two singles but a strikeout double play on an attempted stolen base kept it 9-0. This led to the bottom half of the seventh as Colby Grace ended the game with a big blast to left center field to give the Rangers the lead and then win 10-0 over the Tigers.

This clinched the series win over the Tigers, taking the first two games of the series heading into the final game.

Game 2

Northwestern in Game 2 of the day was led by Chad Green and Trevor Saire, each with three hits in the game. Jacob Wiltshire led the team with four RBIs on a grand slam in the second inning. Colby Mitchell earned his third win of the season before Dawson Toborg and Jacob Shaw each threw a scoreless inning.

Rangers carried all the momentum in from the first two games, jumping out to an early lead in the final game of the series after a scoreless top of the first. Two solo home runs got the scoring started as Dylan Bradord led off the first with a solo home run to center field. Chad Green stepped up a batter later doing the same thing to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Tigers got one back in the second inning after a leadoff double came around to score on an RBI single by Collins. However, Northwestern quickly extended the lead in the second inning as Trevor Saire and Theron Perkins led the inning off with a single. After Stiles reached on an error Jacob Wiltshire blasted a grand slam to left field to extend the lead to 6-1 over the Tigers through two innings.

Desiree Morehead

Northwestern junior Carson Wright (31) slides safely into home plate Friday evening.

Two walks to start the third inning for the Rangers from Sachen and Grace led to an RBI single by Trevor Stiles scoring Sachen for the 7-1 lead. An inning later the Rangers continued to add on, extending the lead to double digits as a walk and a single set up first and second before a Trevor Saire three run home run giving the Rangers an 11-1 lead after clearing the bases.

In the fifth inning a walk and a stolen base from Dylan Bradord led to an RBI single by Carson Wright for a 12-1 lead for the Rangers. The Tigers got one run in the sixth inning to make it 12-2 but the Rangers answered with a three spot. Bradford hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Saire for a 13-2 lead. After a Tigers error made it 14-2 scoring Stiles Green hit in the final run of the game with an RBI single to center.

Shaw threw a scoreless seventh, closing out the 15-2 victory over East Central as the Rangers in total completed the sweep, scoring the Tigers 35-4 between the three games.