ALVA, Okla. – It was a tough afternoon for Northwestern Oklahoma State University baseball as the Rangers dropped a pair of conference games Saturday at Myers Stadium against Henderson State.
Henderson State scored five runs in the final four innings of the first game to take the contest 10-7. In the second game, Northwestern took a 10-6 lead into the top of the seventh, but the Reddies scored four to send the game to extra innings and added three more in the top of the ninth for the win.
Northwestern dropped their record this season to 12-11 overall and 4-10 in conference play. The Rangers are home for back-to-back midweek contests as they host Newman (Kan.) at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by a game against Oklahoma Panhandle State Wednesday at 1 p.m.
The Rangers had 24 hits in the two games, led by Carlos Andujar and Justin Bundy. Andujar went 5-for-10 in the two games with a home run, four runs batted in and four runs scored, while Bundy was 4-for-8 with two doubles. Andujar ran his hitting streak to double-digits as he now sits at 10 straight with a hit and has reached base safely in 19 straight games.
Bundy, who had a spectacular defensive play in the first game when he threw out a runner at third from right field, closed the series with a .583 average against the Reddies, including three doubles and a home run in the series.
Game 1
After the Reddies put two on the board in the top of the first inning, the Rangers bounced back in a big way in the bottom of the inning. An error by the HSU shortstop ultimately led to the first run for the Rangers as Jake Darrow reach and scored two batters later on a Johnnuelle Ponce hit.
With Ranger runners on base and two outs, Bryce Donovan hit an opposite field home run to right to make the game 4-2 after one.
Unfortunately, the Reddies responded in the second with three runs on three hits. The scored stayed at 5-4 until the bottom of the fourth inning when Colton Whitehouse led the inning off with a solo blast to right to tie the game.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, after a Henderson State home run gave them a 7-5 lead in the top half of the inning, Donovan led off for the Rangers and tripled into the right field corner. He was quickly driven in on a groundout by Luis Mendoza to cut into the lead.
The Reddies got insurance runs in the seventh inning and again in the top of the ninth to take a 10-6 lead into the final inning for the Rangers. Whitehouse started the inning with a double to right, and was moved to third on a groundout. With two outs, Jake Darrow singled in in Whitehouse for the final 10-7 difference.
Game 2
Straight out of the dugout in the second game, the Reddies jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the first.
The bats finally came alive for the Rangers in the bottom of the third as they put four runs on the board on four hits. Daschal Johnson delivered the first run of the game with an infield single that allowed Marques Paige to score. Andujar followed with a single to right to plate Johnson and tie the game at two.
It didn't take long for Andujar to come home as Ponce sent a blast over the wall in right to put the Rangers up 4-2. It was Ponce's eighth home run of the season, which ties his home run total from last season.
Henderson State cut the lead to 4-3 with a home run in the fifth inning, but the Rangers again answered in the home half of the inning. After Johnson led the frame off with a single, Andujar stepped in and hit a two-run home run to extend the Ranger lead.
Unfortunately, the Reddies plated three runs in the sixth inning to tie the game at six.
Northwestern bounced back again in the same inning. Darrow started the sixth inning with a single with a single up the middle to bring home a run, and he came around to score on an Andujar single a couple of batters later. The pitching for the Reddies fell apart at that point as they walked three straight Rangers to push across Andujar and Ponce and make it 10-6.
In the seventh inning, the Reddies were able to score three runs before an out was recorded and tied the game on a groundout to send the game into extras tied at 10. The Rangers had opportunities in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to walk off the Reddies, but ultimately stranded runners in scoring position.
Henderson put across three in the top of the ninth inning to seal the victory and take game two of the doubleheader in extra innings, 13-10.
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