Box Score Senatobia, Miss. - At long last - Friday was time to deliver the first pitch of the 2023 ICC Baseball Season. Coach Brett Kelley's crew is down in Mississippi to play the Northwest Mississippi Rangers. The Cougars trailed 2-0 after five innings, but a run in the subsequent half inning was not enough to complete the comeback, and the Cougars fell 2-1 at Jim Miles Field to open up the new campaign. 

ICC had a big chance early, after a Kaleb Gauf single loaded the bases, with Jackson Powell (walk) and Camden Porter (single) joining him on the base paths. However, a strikeout and groundout would follow, and the hosts snuffed ICC's first chance at the scoreboard. 

Nick Hainline held it down on the bump, throwing the game's first five innings. Hainline made it through four innings practically unblemished, minus a base-runner here and there. That fifth inning is when the Rangers finally broke through. A hit by pitch with the bases loaded was followed by an RBI sac fly to put Northwest Mississippi up 2-0. 

It didn't take long for the Cougars to answer. Josh Heyder launched the first home run of 2023 on a shot over the left field fence on just the second pitch of the at-bat, pulling ICC within 2-1 with plenty of baseball left to be played. 

With Gavin Thompson now on the mound for the Cougars, the Rangers were held pat, not scoring a run the rest of the game. Unfortunately, ICC's bats had gone cold as well. Yet, perhaps the closest that either team would get was ICC in the top of the ninth. Heyder and Powell laced back-to-back singles to left field to put the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on the bases as well. The Rangers would shut the door, though, striking out the Cougars' final two batters of the game to secure the one-run win. 

ICC continues their Mississippi run with a doubleheader against the Rangers tomorrow. 

OFFENSIVE LEADERS:
Josh Heyder | 2 hits, 1 home run, 1 RBI
Zach Otten | 2 drawn walks

PITCHING NOTABLES:
Nick Hainline (L) | 5 IP, 72 pitches, 3 hits, 0 earned runs, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk, 15/21 first-pitch strikes
Gavin Thompson | 3 IP, 54 pitches, 1 hit, 0 runs/0 earned, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk, 7/12 first-pitch strikes

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS:
@ Northwest Mississippi Rangers (7-0)
Saturday, February 18th - 1 & 3 PM
@ Jim Miles Field - Senatobia, Miss.
WATCH LIVE (RangerTV)
LIVE STATS (GameChanger)