No. 21 Indians Fall to Northwest in Region 23 Opener

The No. 21 Indians took the lead into the late innings Tuesday, but Northwest rallied for a 12-6 win in the opening round of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament at East Central Community College.

A large group of ICC baseball players in red jerseys and white pants jump and celebrate at home plate after a home run during a night game, with several players raising their arms as teammates rush into the moment.
Indians celebrate after a Reid Kent home run (Landon Rutland/ECCC Athletics)
May 5, 2026
Box Score

DECATUR, Miss. - The No. 21 Indians took the lead into the late innings Tuesday, but Northwest rallied for a 12-6 win in the opening round of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament at East Central Community College.

ICC scored first, regained the lead in the sixth and carried a 6-4 advantage into the eighth before the Rangers broke the game open with seven runs in the inning.

ICC went in front in the first. Cannon Graham lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Brody Thompson, then Bryson Jackson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in Reid Kent and make it 2-0.

The Indians added another run in the second when Kent hit a solo home run to left for a 3-0 lead.

The Rangers got on the board with a solo home run in the fourth, then moved in front in the fifth. Northwest scored twice on an error and added another run on a sacrifice fly to take a 4-3 lead.

ICC answered in the sixth and went back in front. Madden Butler lined a two-run single to left to score Thompson and Daniel Whitfield and put the Indians ahead 5-4.

Tre Gunn added to the lead in the seventh with a solo home run to left, pushing the margin to 6-4.

The Rangers turned the game in the eighth. Northwest scored seven runs on five hits in the inning and took the lead for good. The biggest hit was a grand slam to left.

Northwest added one more run in the ninth on a solo home run.

Kent homered and scored twice for ICC. Butler drove in two runs with his go-ahead single in the sixth. Graham and Gunn each added an RBI, with Gunn's coming on his solo home run in the seventh.

Day 2 of the tournament was pushed back to Thursday due to weather concerns. The Indians will face East Mississippi at 6 p.m. after East Mississippi dropped an 8-3 decision to No. 2 East Central. East Mississippi advanced to the matchup with ICC after defeating Northeast 9-5 in the play-in game Monday.