Durant, Oklahoma - Northwestern Oklahoma State dropped their weekend series to Southeastern Oklahoma State after falling in both games of the doubleheader, in game one 11-1 and the second game 7-3 following fast starts from Southeastern.
Northwestern drops to 9-12 on the season following the two losses Sunday afternoon along with a 6-6 conference record. Southeastern improves to 19-4 overall on the year.
GAME ONE:
Northwestern finished with nine hits in game one as Yugo Hamakawa and Brayden Koenig each had two hits to lead the team. Hamakawa drove in the lone run for the Rangers in the loss.
Matthew Potts started the game for Northwestern throwing two innings allowing three runs before being relieved by Dylan Collins throwing five innings and Tate Schuerman throwing 0.2 innings of work for Northwestern.
In the top of the 1st inning the Rangers got a runner on following a Holdren single but were not able to have him come around to score. Southeastern though got things started in their half of the first inning with three runs to take the first lead of the game. The Savage Storm got things started having their first runner reach on an error. With a runner on first Rice delivered a 2-run home run to left field to take an early 2-0 lead.They added one more on an RBI single following a double to take a 3-0 lead over the Rangers.
The Rangers picked up two hits in the second inning but left them on base. Potts retried the Savage Storm in order in their half of the second inning.
The game stayed 3-0 until the bottom of the 3rd inning when the Savage Storm extended their lead. WIth a runner on second Ochoa pushed a runner across with an RBI double extending the lead to 5-0. Southeastern continued to add on in the fourth inning with an RBI single to center field to make it a 6-0 lead over the Rangers.
Northwestern tried to answer back with two singles in the sixth inning by Kelly and Hamakawa but were unable to push them across the plate as the game remained 6-0. A leadoff walk followed by a double by French extended the Storm's lead to 7-0.
Guerrero singled in the seventh inning as he helped jump start the Rangers first run. Hamakawa delivered an RBI double pushing across the Rangers first run of the afternoon.
In the bottom of the eighth the Savage Storm extended their lead to 10 runs with an 11-1 lead. After a single pushed across the eighth run in the seventh inning Rice closed the game out with a 3-run home run to give the Storm the win over the Rangers.
GAME TWO:
The middle of the Rangers order led the Red-and-Black offense in Holdren, Hoffman, Priest, Koenig each having two hits in the afternoon, combining for eight hits in game two of the day. Holdren, Priest and Guerrero each had an RBI for the Ranger offense.
Blake Hoffman started game three for the Rangers throwing 2.2 innings striking out five allowing five runs. Ethan Swanson finished the game throwing the final 3.1 innings striking out seven allowing two unearned runs.
Southeastern wasted no time in inning number one to get on the board following a walk. Rice hit a 2-run home run to put them in front 2-0 early in the game.
The Rangers wasted no time answering back as Koenig got things started with a double as Guerrero hit him in with an RBI double to right center to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Rangers trailed 2-1 through two innings as Hoffman held Southeastern scoreless in the second inning.
In the third inning with a runner on second Ware extended the lead to 3-1 following an RBI single by Ware. Rice would then extend their lead to 5-1 following a two run home run by rice his second of the game.
Following a scoreless fourth inning Southeastern pushed two more runs across taking advantage of a couple Ranger miscues. The sixth run would come across an error before the seventh run would score on a bases loaded walk.
Northwestern did not go away quietly as they would score two runs between the sixth and seventh inning along with bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh. Hoffman started the sixth with a double before Priest hit him in with an RBI single to cut it to a 7-2 deficit. Kelly started the seventh with a triple before a Holdren single brought him home for a 7-3 deficit.
The Savage Storm were able to work around two straight singles to load the bases by striking out the last two hitters to end the game in favor of Southeastern with a 7-3 win.
Northwestern will return home for a single game against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 PM before hitting the road for a conference series against Henderson State over the weekend.
