Rangers complete sweep of Hill with home wins

J.T. Thompson drove in three runs on Saturday and helped power Ranger College to a pair of wins over Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference rival Hill College at Ellis Burks Field.

With the two wins, Ranger College completed a 4-game sweep of the Rebels while extending its recent win streak to six games heading into what may well be the toughest part of their schedule – an 8-game stretch over the next two weeks against nationally-ranked teams from McLennan and Weatherford.

More importantly, the two wins enabled the Rangers to maintain a one-game lead over Cisco College and Temple College in the race for third in the conference standings. Ranger, now 23-17 overall, is 10-6 in conference play. Cisco and Temple are tied for fourth at 9-11.

The Rangers jumped on Hill early in Game 2. Ranger scored a run in the bottom of the first and third innings and took a 2-0 lead into the fourth. After Hill had pulled to within a run, at 2-1, to start the fourth, Thompson and the RC offense came alive. They pounded out four runs in the home half of the frame and jumped to a 6-1 cushion.

Ranger closed out the 11-1 run-rule win with five more runs in the fifth.

Thompson led Rangers' 14-hit parade against the Rebels by going 3-for-3 from the plate. Michael Torres-Idrogo, Terry Burrel and Jackson Dillingham all drive in two runs.

Joshua Comeaux also came up big for RC, hitting a home run.

Kyle Hughes came on in relief to garner the win for the Rangers. He allowed just one hit in three innings of work.

Dillingham, who had five RBI in the twinbill, powered Ranger to an 8-1 victory in Game 1. The third baseman went 2-for-3 with a homer and three runs batted in.

Robert Oropeza also drove in a pair of runs.

Louis Castano picked up his team-leading eighth win for RC. Now 8-1, he limited Hill to just eight hits and one earned run in seven innings. He finished with nine strikeouts.

The Rangers will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Waco to face McLennan Community College.