DENVER, COLORADO- Northwestern Oklahoma State Baseball opened their 2023 campaign Friday afternoon against MSU Denver. MSU used the middle inning scoring in three straight two in each of the fourth and fifth before one in the sixth to take the 6-1 lead the eventual final score.
The Rangers dropped the season opener starting the season 0-1 on the year as the was the opening game for Metropolitan as well improving to 1-0.
Dylan Collins received the game one start for the Rangers, throwing four innings before being relieved by Cade Phelps first and Max McClain to close out the game.
The offense finished with six hits each from a different player in the game as Hagen Barcello drove in the only run for the Rangers, scoring Trevor Saire.Â
The Rangers went down in order before Metropolitan struck in their half of the inning on an RBI single by Williams following a double by Smith. Metropolitan State scored first take the early 1-0 lead. Northwestern had their first base runner in the second following a walk from Colby Jarnagin but a double play left the score 1-0.
Dylan Collins avoided any damage in the third following a leadoff double but worked around it forcing a fly and ground out before striking out the final batter of the inning. The Rangers carried the momentum into their half of the inning after Trevor Saire led off with a double. He later scored on a Hagen Barcello hit an RBI single tying the game at one.Â
Metropolitan answered back fast though following a one out single Schuler then hit a two-run home run pushing the home team's lead to 3-1 through four innings. Following a scoreless top of the fifth inning Metro was able to knock in two more runs on back to back doubles both to left field as their lead grew to 5-1 over the Rangers.Â
In the bottom of the sixth inning Metropolitan State took advantage of a bases loaded opportunity by forcing in another run on a walk as they led 6-1 through six innings. The Rangers had a hit in the seventh from Shaughn Kelly before stealing second base but was unable to come around to score as the game remained 6-1.
Northwestern pushed across another runner to second in the eighth inning following a double from Hayden Priest but he was left on second. Northwestern then had one last scoring chance in the ninth inning as Kelly walked followed by a Brandon Holdren single but Metro State was able to escape with no damage and keep the 6-1 victory.Â
The Rangers will return to action Saturday afternoon with a 1:00 PM central time first pitch against Metropolitan for game two of the three game series.Â
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