ALVA, Okla. – Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball lost game one of their Great American Conference series to the University of Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils Friday night by a final score of 9-4.
UAM kicked off the first inning with a three-run shot from Brian Ray that put the Rangers in an early 3-0 hole. After starter
Matt Goertzen issued a leadoff walk, he got the next batter to fly out to right field. But the flyout would be erased as catcher
Harrison Hull was called for catcher's interference, setting up Ray with two on and none out.
Goertzen was able to minimize the damage, retiring the Weevils in the 2
nd and 3
rd to keep the Rangers close. But it wasn't enough to tame first-place Monticello as they tacked on another four runs in the 4
th to extend their lead to 7-0. Redshirt junior
Nick McKinney got the Rangers back in the dugout with a pair of back-to-back strikeouts.
The Ranger offense ran into a strong arm in UAM starter Braden Chambers (4-0), who held the black-and-red without a hit into the 5
th inning. Northwestern was finally able to solve the right hander when with
Johnnuelle Ponce on second,
Jorin Van Amstel rolled a swinging bunt near the pitcher for a base hit. The errant throw to first by the pitcher was enough for Ponce to race home for the Rangers first run.
After the Weevils added two more in the 7
th, Northwestern rallied for three in the bottom half when
Steven Deckard drove an RBI single up the middle, before
Justin Bundy drew a bases loaded walk to cut the UAM lead to five.
A scary moment was narrowly avoided when Northwestern reliever
Baron Phillips had a comebacker fired back up the middle in the 5
th. But the California native stayed cool, calm and collected as he made an unbelievable catch to retire Jordan Johnson.
Northwestern was unable to make anything happen in the final two frames, as they dropped the series opener 9-4.
Up Next
Northwestern will be back in action tomorrow (Sat. March 17) for a doubleheader against Arkansas-Monticello to close the series. First pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m. from Myers Stadium and can be seen live at
www.riderangersride.com/watch or heard on the Pulse 105.7 FM in the Alva area.
For the latest news and updates on Ranger Baseball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com
