Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
ALVA, Okla. - Northwestern took the road this afternoon to take on former Sooner Athletic Conference rival, Oklahoma Christian in a doubleheader and came away with a split, (1-5, 6-3).

Garrett Douglas, and TJ Kassner had the big days for the Rangers as Douglas went .500 on the day as Kassner was 3-for-5 for a .600 average in the two games.

Game One

Northwestern unfortunately started off slow, making it tough on the visitors to climb back into it, going down 5-1 in the first of two on the day.

There wasn't much offense in the first of two for the Black-and-Red, as the club collected three hits, with Douglas, Van Amstel and Kassner earning those bases.

Starting on the bump was Thomas Sander who went three full innings before Jon Bauer took over for two. Coming in for the final inning was David Sanchez who went the full sixth.

OC started off with a run in the first and didn't let up after that, while the Rangers struggled manufacturing runs early on.

In the top of the second, Northwestern appeared poised for a big inning, following a leadoff single up the middle by Van Amstel, but were ousted in the next three at bats to end the threat.

For the second straight inning, OC was able to get on the board, leading 2-0 with the first run coming on a hit by pitch, and the second on a double steal.

Following a scoreless third inning for the visitors, the Eagles tacked on another in the third to make it 3-0.

The Rangers started off the fourth inning right, as Douglas hit an opening double, but the guests were again unable to capitalize, going down in order, but positive things were to come next inning.

The top of the fifth would indeed turn out to be a good one for the Rangers as Quincy Tunstall would cross the plate for the first Ranger run of the game off an RBI groundout by Steven Deckard.

Unfortunately that would be the end of the scoring in the inning, but cut the lead to 4-1, heading to the bottom of five.

After a key start to the inning, the Rangers were able to ride the offensive momentum into a clean inning of no runs by the hosts, but the Eagles added one more in the sixth, following an empty top half for the visitors.

The top half of the seventh inning wasn't much different than the previous six as Northwestern was unable to manufacture any runs, resulting in the 5-1 defeat.

Game Two

The second game of the day was a different story than game one, as the Rangers had one of their better offensive performances of the year, recording eight hits off the Oklahoma Christian pitching staff.

Two batters in Douglas and Kassner, who each went 2-for-3 in the second of the twin bill.

Starting on the mound for the visitors was Tyler Havener, but coming up with the win was Blake Jones who took home his first victory of the season. Coming in for the save was freshman Sean Rydell, who collected his first save of his promising, young career.

Northwestern wasn't able to get the bats rolling the first inning of game two, but following an open frame bottom half for the home team, the Ranger offense caught momentum.

To lead off the second inning, the guests led off with two singles by Krokroskia and Deckard who were brought around to score on a ripped single to right field by Kassner, making it 2-0.

The momentum and lead wouldn't last long however as in the bottom of the third, the Eagles would answer with two runs of their own before going down with the bases juiced.

Following a shaky second inning, Northwestern was able to get the offense rolling again as Douglas smoked a double to right field, moving up Kane who was hit by a pitch.

Following up Douglas was Pat Delano who hit a sac fly to left field, scoring Kane from third. Just two batters later, Douglas was brought home on a fielder's choice, making the Ranger lead 4-2 through two and half innings.

Two innings would go bye before either team would plate another run and it turned out to be the Rangers again, making it 5-2 on a SAC fly to Centerfield by Douglas.

The bottom half of the fifth would give the home team one more to make it a two-run game.

Oklahoma Christian had perhaps their biggest threat of game two, getting the bases loaded, but two big outs in the last two at bats kept the Eagles at bay at three. The score would remain 5-3 in favor of the Rangers through six full innings.

Three straight singles by Kane, Douglas and Delano added one more to the Ranger total at six points, making it 6-3, which would be enough to take home a split.

UP NEXT

The Ranger baseball team will take the road for their second conference series this weekend, where they will take on Arkansas Tech on Friday and Saturday.