PONCA CITY, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball team fell to Northeastern State, 12-11, on Tuesday afternoon.
The Rangers got off to a quick start, as
Alex Dabrowski opened the game with a single to center field and stole second.
Cole Barton brought him home by smashing a single to center field to give the Rangers an early lead, while
Tyler Hogan reached on an error to bring another run home to go up 2-0 after the first inning. The Rangers got the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, with Dabrowski singling and Barton doubling to bring three runs home and move the lead to 5-0. Northwestern kept pouring on with an RBI groundout from Hogan and Barton coming home on a wild pitch to move the score to 7-0. The Rangers loaded the bases for the second time of the inning with
Chase Gordon getting hit by a pitch,
Joel Lindahl singling to center field, and
Brody Harris getting hit by a pitch, but could not get another run across.
Northeastern State answered with a home run in the top of the third inning, and tacked on another in the top of the fourth to cut the Ranger advantage down to five runs. The Rangers responded with a
Blake Mattern single, and advanced to third on an error before stealing home.
DJ Barrett kept the offense going with a double to left center field followed by a Dabrowski single to make the score 9-2 favoring the Rangers through five innings. The Riverhawks plated one in the top of the sixth inning to bring Northwestern's lead down to 9-3, and added on four more in the top of the seventh inning to cut the deficit down to two. In the bottom of the seventh, the Rangers got runners in scoring position off a singles from Barrett and Dabrowski, but could not capitalize. The Riverhawks added four runs in the top of the eighth to take their first lead of the game, 11-9.
The Rangers loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth with singles from
Matthew Bailey and Gordon and a walk from Lindahl, and Mattern blasted a single to right center field to tie the game at 11-11 going into the ninth inning. The Rangers started to rally in the bottom of the ninth with a walk from Dabrowski and Barton getting intentionally walked. Hogan moved both runners into scoring positions on a groundout, but the Rangers could not bring them home. After a scoreless 10th inning, the Riverhawks took the lead in the top of the 11th inning, 12-11. Northwestern tried to rally in the bottom of the inning, but could not score, giving Northeastern State the 12-11 win.
Dabrowski led the Rangers in hits with four, while Dabrowski, Mattern, and Barton led in RBI with two each.
The Rangers will be back in action on February 13, when they travel to Searcy, Arkansas to open Great American Conference play in a doubleheader against Harding University, with the first pitch at 1 p.m.
For the latest news and updates on NWOSU, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com
