WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball concluded their season Saturday with a huge series victory over rival Southwestern Oklahoma State in a pair of 4-3 decisions on the road. The Rangers got key pitching out of starters Matthew Bickford and Matt Goertzen, and timely hitting from Judah Zickafoose (4-for-8), Justin Bundy (3-for-8) and T.J. Kassner (3-for-7).

Game 1
The Rangers sent Matthew Bickford to the hill in game two and the pride of Braintree, Massachusetts did not disappoint. The fourth-year right hander battled through one of the league's toughest offensive lineups to throw a complete game in his final outing in the red-and-black.

Bickford got some run support before he'd even stepped on the rubber as right fielder Judah Zickafoose deposited a 1-0 offering from SWOSU starter Cooper Cantwell over the wall in center for his 11^th home run of the season, this one a two-run shot in the top of the 1^st. The Bulldogs would answer back in the bottom half as Bickford surrendered a two-out RBI triple to cut the lead to one.
SWOSU tied things up in the 3^rd with a solo home run, but Bickford then countered with a 1-2-3 frame in the 4^th.

Justin Bundy (3-for-5) led off the 6^th with his seventh big fly of 2018 to give Northwestern a 3-2 lead, but it was short lived again as Nick Ward tagged Bickford for another solo trip around the bases to once again tie the game up in the in the bottom of the inning.

The Rangers had a chance to break things wide open in the 7^th when they loaded the bases with just one out, but an infield pop-up followed by a looking strikeout ended the threat to keep it knotted up at three. Northwestern scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 8^th when Daschal Johnson drove in T.J. Kassner with a base hit to left.

Bickford's gritty performance was one he'll never forget as the 5'9" senior fought through adversity to scatter nine hits and two walks, striking out 10 over a 133-pitch outing. The Rangers would hang on to win 4-3.

Game 2
Riding the high of taking the first game against longtime rival SWOSU, the Rangers were looking to close out the regular season with a series win in Weatherford for the first time since joining the NCAA. Starting pitcher Matt Goertzen was tasked with taming the Bulldogs for the second time of the day, and he did just that.

Goertzen threw six innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits and four walks while striking out five batters en route to earning his fourth win of the season. Southwestern opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1^st when a throwing error by Luis Mendoza led to a run and a 1-0 SWOSU lead.

The Rangers answered back in the 2^nd when they capitalized on back-to-back errors by the Bulldog defense to score two runs and take a 2-1 lead. Northwestern was able to extend their lead in the 4^th when base hits from Zickafoose and Mendoza left runners on the corners. After senior Nathan Kane was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Kassner came up with a big two-out knock to drive in a pair and give the Rangers a 4-1 edge.

The Northwestern starter would cruise through the next three frames, going three-up three-down in the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th innings. Head coach Ryan Bowen sent Goertzen back out for the 7^th but was forced to make a change when the first three Bulldogs reached with the lead cut to two. GAC Pitcher of the Week Tyler Bernhardt came on with runners on the corners and struck out the first batter he faced with a fastball on the outer half. Things got interesting when SWOSU pieced together a base hit up the middle and a walk to make it 4-3, but a visit from Bowen paid off as Bernhardt induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the ballgame.

The Rangers' 24-win season marks the most successful campaign since joining the NCAA and Great American Conference in 2012, and their skipper couldn't be prouder of the year his guys had.

"What a way to send these seniors out" said Bowen. "This group just continued to show their resilience. We made plays all day to get us out of jams and guys continued to step up in big situations and get the job done."

Bowen added that it has been a 'privilege' and an 'honor' to coach this group of Rangers over the past nine months and is looking forward to continuing to grow the promising Ranger Baseball program.

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