MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Rangers faced a tough Southern Arkansas team in two losses Friday afternoon.

The No. 3 ranked team nationally Muleriders had an effective offense in the first game, but the Rangers were able to hold them to only three runs in the second half of their doubleheader. The two teams will close the series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.

Hits were hard to come by for the Black-and-Red, totaling only four through the first game. Freshman Madison Friest lead the offense with two hits, while also earning the only two RBIs in both games. Freshmen Kalie Johnson and Abby Detar were the only other Rangers to tally a hit.

An offensive explosion in the first two innings led to the 10-0 lead by SAU. A grand slam, a double and a couple walks lead to a 5-0 lead after the first inning. A pitching change by the Rangers did nothing to slow the Muleriders momentum as they scored five more in the second to increase their lead to ten runs.
The Rangers rallied back to scratch a run on the board in the top of the third inning. The Black-and-Red got their leadoff batter on the base with Lindsey McElroy getting hit by pitch. She was followed by a single by Abby Detar that moved McElroy into scoring position at second base.

A miscue by the defense allowed Morgan Kirk to reach by fielder's choice loading up the bases for the Rangers. Morgan La Neve reached on a fielder's choice as McElroy was thrown out at home. Friest then stepped up to the plate and sent an RBI single into center field, plating Detar making the score 10-1.

More successful offense and a few miscues by the Rangers allowed the Muleriders to answer back and increase their lead 14-1 in the bottom of the third inning.

A three up, three down bottom of the fourth gave the Rangers some momentum going into the top of the fifth inning. They came back with another rally to try and prevent the run rule from going into effect.

Detar reached on an error by the second baseman to get the inning going. Kirk moved Detar to second on a groundout to the first baseman. Johnson followed with a single to move Detar to third. La Neve then reached on a fielder's choice as Detar was thrown out at third. Friest came in clutch again with another RBI single to center field scoring Johnson from second base. Unfortunately, they couldn't score any more runs and the game ended in five with a 14-2 score in favor of SAU.

The second game was a pitchers dual as Karly Murray took to the mound for the Black-and-Red. Murray held the Muleriders to only seven hits and three runs. The Rangers were able to prevent SAU from scoring until the fourth inning when SAU was able to plate their three runs of the game.

Unfortunately, SAU pitcher, Elisa Favela, held her own throwing a no-hitter against the Rangers.

The Rangers did threaten in the top of the seventh inning with Kalie Johnson reaching on an error by the shortstop. She was moved to second base as Ashlie Green reached on a fielder's choice. Northwestern was unable to score any runners and loss the game 3-0 to SAU.

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