Lakewood, Colo. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball team scored seven runs in the eighth inning to come back and beat Colorado Christian, 14-10, on Sunday afternoon. The win splits the series between the Rangers and Cougars and moves Northwestern's record to 2-2.
The Ranger offense struck first, as
Alex Dabrowski started the game with a single through the left side and stole second while
Chase Gordon drew a walk.
Amari Goodfellow smashed a double to left center field to give the Rangers an early 1-0 advantage. The Ranger bats stayed hot in the second inning, as
Cole Barton got aboard after getting hit by a pitch, while Dabrowski singled and
Trey Gray got on via fielder's choice and an error that allowed Barton to score.
Amari Goodfellow and
Tyler Hogan both got singles that moved the Ranger lead to 4-0 after two innings.
Starting pitcher
Trey Barkman continued to mow through the Cougars with two of his four strikeouts of the day coming in the bottom of the second, and the Rangers kept tacking on runs with back-to-back home runs from
Matthew Bailey and
Levi Joyce to extend the lead to 6-0. Colorado Christian responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, but the Rangers push the lead back to three on a single from
Patrick Means that brought Dabrowski home. In the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars scored four more to take the lead, 8-7. The Rangers got two runners in scoring position in the six, but were unable to bring them home, while the Cougars went up by three off a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Rangers rallied in the eighth inning, as
Jason McCarty got aboard on an error and advanced to second base, while Bailey was hit by a pitch. Barton singled through the right side to cut the deficit to four, and Dabrowski got hit to load the bases.
Blake Mattern gave the Rangers the lead by blasting the ball to right field for a grand slam to put Northwestern up 12-10. The Ranger continued to hammer away with a single by
Jailon Goodfellow that put a runner in scoring position and McCarty scoring two runners on a Colorado Christian error to put the Rangers up 14-10.
Austin Maddox and
Ryan McClaskey slammed the door shut by allowing one hit in the final two innings to give the Rangers the win, 14-10.
Amari Goodfellow and Means led the Rangers in hits with three each, while
Blake Mattern led in RBI with four.
The Rangers will be back in action on Feb. 3, when they take on Newman University in the home opener at Myers Stadium at 2 p.m.
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