CANYON, Texas - A six run first inning wasn't enough to take down the West Texas A&M Buffaloes as the Rangers wrapped up their three game series Saturday evening. 

After dropping their first two contests in shutouts on the road, Northwestern was looking for a spark to kick-start their offense. It didn't take long for the bats to wake up in this one as the Rangers hung up six runs in the top of the 1st. An RBI double to left from Arturo Castro gave the black-and-red their first run of the series which Steven Deckard followed up with a double of his own, plating two more. A walk by Nathan Kane knocked Buffs starter Matt Littrell out of the game after only recording one out, but the Rangers were able to add to their early lead thanks to Garrett Douglas who hit a ball to deep right center that bounced over the wall to score two. 

Armed with a six run lead, Nick Llorente took to the mound making his second start of the season. A single up the middle followed by back to back doubles allowed West Texas to answer back with two of their own. 

The Buffs 2nd inning proved to be the decisive blow as they would put up eight runs on Llorente. With the first 10 batters of the inning reaching safely, head coach Sam Carel looked to red-shirt freshman Brandon Nesseralla to put an end to the huge inning. The Alva native got the next two batters to fly out to right, ending the onslaught that saw West Texas put up eight runs on six hits, a walk and two hit-by-pitch's. 

With the Rangers down but definitely not out, Nesseralla did his part to keep the deficit within reach going 3.2 innings while surrendering just one run. 

Looking to gain momentum in the 3rd, Northwestern had the bases loaded with one out. Colton Krokroskia then popped out to short and Casey Dickerman was thrown out trying to tag up and score on the play, ending the threat and keeping it a 10-6 game. The Rangers scored a run in the top of the 8th when Douglas hit his second double of the game, followed by a sac-fly from Castro. 

Adding a run in the 5th after a leadoff walk, West Texas showed they still weren't done. Tagging Sean Rydell and David Sanchez for three runs each, the Buffs went on to take a run-ruled shortened game by a 17-7 final. 

Up Next

The Rangers will need to regroup in a hurry as they host Harding University on Friday, February 17 to open Great American Conference play. Northwestern and the Bisons will play a single 9 inning game at 3 p.m. Friday, followed by a doubleheader beginning at noon on Saturday.

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