ROGERS -- Springdale Har-Ber junior Ryan Taylor did it all Friday for the Northwest Arkansas All-Stars.
Taylor threw a complete game four hitter with nine strikeouts, and his RBI in the fourth inning broke a 1-1 tie as Northwest Arkansas defeated Mississippi 2-1 in a first-round game at the 16-18-Year Old Senior Babe Ruth Southwest Regional Tournament at Veterans Park
Senior Babe Ruth Southwest Regional Baseball Tournament
18-Year-Old Division
When: Friday through Tuesday
Where: Veterans Park, Rogers
Friday
Game 1: Louisiana 6, West Texas 3
Game 2: Northwest Arkansas 2, Mississippi 1
Game 3: South Arkansas 4, East Texas 2
Game 4: South Arkansas 2 vs. Alabama, 8 p.m.
Today
Game 5: North Arkansas vs. Louisiana, 10 a.m.
Game 6: South Texas vs. Northwest Arkansas, 10 a.m.
Game 7: East Texas vs. Mississippi, 1 p.m.
Game 8: West Texas vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 9: South Arkansas vs. Winner Game 5, 4 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 5, 7 p.m.
Game 12: Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8, 7 p.m.
Sunday
Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 1 p.m.
Game 14: Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11, 1 p.m.
Game 15: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 4 p.m.
Game 16: Winner Game 14 vs. Winner Game 13, 7 p.m.
Monday
Game 17: Loser Game 15 vs. Winner Game 16, 5 p.m.
Game 18: Winner Game 15 vs. Winner Game 17, 8 p.m.
Tuesday
Game 19: if necessary, noon
Senior Babe Ruth Southwest Regional
Northwest Arkansas 2, Mississippi 1
Mississippi^000^100^0^—^1^4^1
Northwest Arkansas^001^100^x^—^2^6^3
G. Groue and Moen; Taylor and Hays. W — Taylor. L — Groue. HRs-none
Northwest Arkansas plays South Texas in a winner's bracket game at 10 a.m. today at Veterans Park. Mississippi plays in a loser's bracket game at 1 p.m. today.
Taylor had six strikeouts the first three innings, and Mississippi's only run was helped by three Northwest Arkansas errors in the top of the fourth inning. Taylor hit a RBI sacrifice fly in the home half of the fourth inning to give Northwest Arkansas a 2-1 lead.
"Ryan gave us a good game, heck of a game," said Northwest Arkansas coach Charles Tucker. "Ryan gutted it out when the defense let him down. That inning could have been a lot worse. Staying in the winner's bracket is huge, especially as hot as it is out here."
Taylor said the early strikeouts boosted his confidence on a hot and humid afternoon.
"My curve ball and change was working," Taylor said. "We were able to get the leadoff batter out a lot and that helped."
Northwest Arkansas took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third after stranding runners in scoring position in the first and second innings. Trevor Deloney opened the third with a four-pitch walk and stole second before going to third base on a long fly out by Eric Hankins.
Cash Hays then gave Northwest Arkansas a 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI single to right field that scored Deloney.
Mississippi tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth when Issac Williams singled and then scored on one of three Northwest Arkansas errors in the inning. But Northwest Arkansas retook the lead in the bottom of the inning when Taylor helped his own cause with a RBI sacrifice fly that scored Toby Rose, who reached on a one-out single.
Sports on 07/18/2015