Rangers sweep doubleheader in walk-off fashion
March 8, 2020
ALVA – The Rangers baseball team was ready to return for a home series after playing eight of their last nine games on the road. The Rangers trailed the Weevils by one game in the Great American Conference and changed that by sweeping the Friday afternoon doubleheader: 10-3 in the first game and completing the second game in walk-off fashion 5-4. The Rangers improve to 9-13 on the season and 6-5 in conference play. The Weevils drop to 8-11 on the season and 5-6 in conference play.
Game 1
The Rangers finished the game with 13 hits in Game One. Yugo Hamakawa, Marques Paige and Colton Whitehouse led the team with three hits apiece. Whitehouse led Game One with four RBIs, Donovan finished with two RBIs, and Hamakawa and Jose Rubalcava each had one.
Jacob Uhing got his first start of the year going 4.2 innings allowing three runs on four hits with three walks. Uhing struck on three on the day. He was relieved by Kaleb Honea who threw 4.1 innings striking out five and allowing zero runs in his outing. Honea was the winning pitcher in Game One.
After a scoreless first inning, Randels made a diving stop to end the inning and give the Rangers some momentum. Paige continued his hot hitting from last weekend with a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning.
After walking two batters in the third, Uhing worked around two walks in the inning to hold the Weevils scoreless in the inning.
Monticello evened the score in the top of the fourth on a home run from Andrew Piraino to get the Weevils on the board. The Rangers wasted no time answering back with a strong fourth inning, scoring four runs on four hits. After a Hamakawa single to start the inning, he later came around to score on a wild pitch. Johnson got things started again for the Rangers with a single. After a double from Paige, Whitehouse stepped up with runners on second and third and delivered a three-run home run to give the Rangers a 5-1 lead after the fourth.
The Weevils answered in the top of the fifth inning with two runs. Piraino came through again with a 2-RBI double, making it a 5-3 game.
Honea came in with a 3-2 count and the bases loaded and struck out the first batter he saw, getting out of the jam. The Rangers fired back in their half of the fifth with two runners on. Donovan would hit a single to center field, driving in two more runs to make it a 7-3 game.
After a scoreless top of the sixth inning, the Rangers' offense stayed alive with three more runs building a 10-3 lead. Whitehouse came through with an RBI double. Rubalcava followed with an RBI single. Hamakawa drove in the final run of the game with an RBI single, bringing the game to 10-3.
Honea closed out the win forcing a ground-out to shortstop for the Rangers to pick up the win in Game One. Honea improved to 2-1 on the season.
Game 2
During Game Two, the Rangers won in comeback fashion. After trailing 4-0, the Rangers would come back with five unanswered runs to walk off with a 5-4 win. The Rangers would have nine hits on the day, producing five runs. Hamakawa and Rubalcava led the team with two hits each. Randels led the team driving in three runs, with Hamakawa and Rubalcava driving in the others.
Scott Creedon started Game Two for the Rangers, throwing a complete game for the second time this season. He went seven innings and allowed four runs on seven hits. He struck out 10 Monticello hitters.
After a scoreless opening inning, Monticello's offense struck first in the second inning when they finished the inning with two home runs – one from Borman and the other from Shepherd.
The Weevils scored two more in the top of the fifth inning when Reyna tripled to center field driving in two runs and opening a 4-0 lead. Northwestern produced four hits through four innings but didn't produce a run until they struck in the fifth. Rubalcava came through with an RBI double to left field getting the Rangers on the board. Hamakawa followed with an RBI single cutting the deficit in half.
Creedon threw a scoreless sixth inning. Whitehouse drew a lead-off walk to bring up Randels. Randels delivered with a towering shot to straightaway center field to even the game at four runs apiece.
Creedon pitched out of a jam in the top of the seventh to keep the game even at four. The Rangers showed a lot of plate discipline in the bottom of the frame with four walks, including the eventual walk-off walk drawn by Randels.
The sweep guarantees the first Rangers series win over Arkansas Monticello since 2015 and the first win against the Weevils since 2018. The Rangers were looking to complete the series sweep Saturday afternoon in Glass Family Field at Myers Stadium.
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