ALVA, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State Baseball completed the series victory on Saturday after splitting the double header against Metropolitan State. The Rangers once again used a ninth inning comeback to walk it off in the first game 6-5 before the Roadrunners closed out the series topping the Rangers 9-3.
Northwestern is now 2-1 on the season and marks the first opening weekend series win since the 2019 season.
GAME 1:
The opening game of the day was all pitching to start in this one as Matthew Potts worked around a two out single by picking Yuran off first to end the inning. Carson Wright had a single in the bottom of the inning but was left on base.
The game remained 0-0 through the first four innings of the game as Potts retired the side in order in the second but in the fifth inning Schuler hit his first home run of the day with a solo shot to left center as Metropolitan took a 1-0 lead over the Rangers. Northwestern was retired in order in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
The Roadrunners kept the momentum on their side after the perfect inning in the 5th, extending the lead to 4-0 with three runs in the sixth inning. Yuran hit an RBI double before later scoring on a 2-RBI double by Schuler.
After a walk and a single with two-outs , Sachen put the Rangers on the board with an RBI single to right field, scoring Wright as the Rangers cut into the deficit making it a 4-1 game.
The score remained that way until the bottom of the 8th inning when the Rangers were able to take advantage of a Roadrunners error as Bradford came around to score before a sacrifice bunt pushed across Wright as the Rangers trailed 4-3 after eight innings of play.
Metropolitan answered back in the ninth with a run though to extend their lead back to two at 5-3. However that did not stop the Rangers as back to back walks to Grace and Pittman led to Grace scoring on a Balk before Dylan Bradford hit an RBI single to tie the game. Later in the inning Paul Sachen singled to right field for a walk-off single and the second straight Rangers' comeback win.
GAME 2:
In the second game of the day the Rangers were the first to score for the first time in the series as after Dylan Bradford led the inning off with a single and stole second, Hagen Barcello drove him in with an RBI single.
The Roadrunners answered right back in the top half of the second with back to back extra base hits following a two out walk which included a double and a triple for a 2-1 Metropolitan lead. In the third inning Schuler helped extend the lead with a two run home run to center field for a 4-1 lead.
The game remained 4-1 until the top of the fifth inning when Metropolitan extended the lead, capitalizing with a lead off double to right center which later scored on a ground out. Northwestern in the bottom half was able to get a double from Paul Sachen but was unable to cross the plate as the game remained 5-1 through five innings.
In the seventh inning Schuler extended the lead with his second home run of the game and his fourth RBI in the second game. The score remained 7-1 until the bottom of the 8th when Colby Grace tried to get the Rangers back in the game with a two run home run to center field scoring Pittman as the Rangers trailed 7-3.
Northwestern had two more hits in the inning trying to draw closer as a single by Wiltshire and a double by Bradford set up second and third by a Wright strikeout ended the inning.
Metropolitan State added two more in the ninth inning with a single to left field extending their lead to 8-3 with the bases loaded before a fielder's choice pushed across the ninth run of the game and a 9-3 lead for the visitors.
That is how the game ended as the Roadrunners took the final game 9-3 over Northwestern.
The Rangers will be back home on Tuesday afternoon with a single game against Newman with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 PM.
