The Bears closed Sunday's home doubleheader against Northeast Mississippi on a high note as the offense of Lane Steinwinder and the pitching of Rhyson Carroway led the charge in an 11-0 win over the Tigers in Game 2. Earlier in the day, Southwest fell to Northeast 8-6 in Game 1. During the opening game, the Bears set a new season high in hits with 17.
"I was really pleased that we were able to bounce back in Game 2," Southwest head coach Jack Edmonson said. "I thought that we played really hard in Game 1, we just didn't quite execute enough to win. We were in positions to win, but we just have to execute and rise to a couple of occasions."
In the nightcap, the Bears (11-16, 2-2 MACCC) set the tone early with the pitching of Carroway. The freshman from Shreveport, LA retired three of the first five batters he faced, striking out two in the process and keeping the Tigers off of the scoreboard.
Carroway said that he was feeling good entering his start and received some extra motivation from a teammate.
"I am a superstitious guy and I have my routine that I go through," he said. "When I was in the pen, my teammate Brodey Walker came up and said, 'you have to get it done in this game, we need a win'. I believe in him and I believe in my teammates and we got it done."
The offense provided immediate help in the bottom half of the inning.
Jake Meilstrup led off with a double and touched home during the ensuing at bat when Gage Hinnant singled to right. After Steinwinder kept it going with a single of his own he scored during the next at bat when Justin Domiano grounded out, making it a 2-0 Bear lead.
Carroway went right back to work in the second before the offense provided additional help.
Cam Bolden led off with a double before singles from Zayne Landry and Meilstrup followed. Hinnant followed with an RBI single before Steinwinder continued his big day with a two-RBI double increasing the lead to 5-0. Domiano added two more runs with a single before a sacrifice fly from Cody Presley and a ground out from Tanner Moore rounded-out the scoring in the inning pushing the Bear lead to 9-0.
Southwest added two more in the third when Domiano singled to left before Trace Roy hit a sacrifice fly to center making the score 11-0.
Over the next two innings, Carroway really locked in retiring the Tigers in order in both, picking up three additional strikeouts in the process, and helping the Bears claim the win.
Carroway went all 5.0 innings allowing only one hit and four walks while striking out nine. Steinwinder went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs.
After the game, Steinwinder – who celebrated his birthday on Sunday – talked about his motivation entering the games.
"I got to see my family this morning for my birthday, and it was nice to see them," he said. "I felt really locked in today in the cages and on the field. I was seeing the ball really well today."
Hinnant recorded three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored while Domiano finished with two hits four RBIs and a run scored.
In the opener, the Bears fell behind 2-0 in the second inning following back-to-back doubles by the Tigers.
Northeast added a run in the third and fourth innings before Southwest responded in the bottom half of the fourth when Presley singled in Trace Roy making the score 4-1.
The momentum, unfortunately, swung back over to the visiting side in the fifth as the Tigers added two more runs increasing the Bear deficit to five at 6-1.
The Bears pushed a run across in the fifth when Cooper Lewis grounded out.
Another Southwest run was posted in the seventh when Lewis singled to center bringing Steinwinder home cutting the Northeast lead in half at 6-3.
After the Tigers added two runs in the top half of the eighth, the Bears responded in the bottom. Steinwinder grounded out allowing Meilstrup to score before an RBI double from ensuing batter Domiano pulled Southwest within three at 8-5.
The Bears tried to rally in the ninth and pushed one run across on an RBI single from Bolden, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers claimed the Game 1 win.
Steinwinder led the Bears with three hits, two runs scored and an RBI. Presely also had three hits to go along with one run scored and one RBI.
Southwest heads to Wesson on Tuesday for a doubleheader against Co-Lin at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
