MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball team split their doubleheader against Southern Arkansas, with the Muleriders winning the first game and the Rangers taking the second game.
Game 1
Southern Arkansas struck first in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead, but the Rangers responded with four runs in the second, as
Jailon Goodfellow doubled to right field and
Chase Gordon sent a double to left center field to tie the game at 1-1.
DJ Barrett got on base with a single, and
Blake Mattern put Northwestern ahead with a three-run home run.
The Rangers added to the lead in the third inning, with
Cole Barton ripping a single to left field,
Joel Lindahl reaching on an error, and Goodfellow brought Barton home on a sacrifice fly. Lindahl came home on a throwing error to give the Rangers a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the third. The Muleriders answered back with three runs in the bottom of the third, and tacked on another in the fourth to bring the Northwestern lead down to one.
In the top of the fifth, Barton and Lindahl drew back-to-back walks to put a runner in scoring position, and Gordon got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Barrett brought Barton home on a sacrifice fly to expand the Ranger lead to 7-5, but the Muleriders tied the game in the bottom of the inning at 7-7. The Ranger bats stayed hot in the top of the sixth, as Mattern singled through the left side,
Matthew Bailey drew a walk, and Barton blasted a single to right center field to retake the lead, 8-7. Barton stole second, and Bailey raced home to double the Ranger advantage, 9-7.
The Muleriders added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to snatch the lead from Northwestern, 10-9, but the Rangers rallied in the eighth to tie the game at 10-10 behind walks from Bailey and Lindahl and a double from Barton to load the bases, followed by Gordon grounding out to bring Bailey home. Southern Arkansas tacked on another run in the bottom of the inning to take the lead back, 11-10, but the Rangers rallied once again to tie the game behind
Alex Dabrowski reaching on an error, moving to second and third on wild pitches, and stealing home to send the game to extra innings. The Muleriders scored in the bottom of the 10
th to win the game, 12-11.
Barton led the Rangers in hits with three, while Mattern led in RBI with three.
Game 2
The Rangers struck first in the second game, with Lindahl singling up the middle and stealing second to put a runner in scoring position and Barrett drawing a walk before Gordon bunted to move the runners to second and third.
Brody Harris brought Lindahl home on a sacrifice fly to left field to give Northwestern the early advantage, 1-0.
Southern Arkansas tacked on four runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead, but the Rangers responded in the fourth with Barrett getting hit by a pitch, Gordon smacking a single through the right side, and
Jason McCarty singling up the middle to bring a run home and cut into the deficit. Dabrowski got aboard on an infield single, and Mattern drew walk to bring a runner home to draw within one before Bailey drew another bases loaded walk to tie the game at 4-4.
Northwestern's offense continued to pour on runs, as McCarty singled up the middle to start sixth, followed by Dabrowski getting hit by a pitch and Mattern blasting a single to give the Rangers the lead back, 5-4. The Rangers weren't done yet, as Bailey got hit by a pitch and Barton grounded out to bring Dabrowski home to extend the lead, 6-4. Northwestern tacked on another run in the seventh from Gordon singling, Harris reaching on an error, and McCarty brought Gordon home on a sacrifice fly to help the Rangers hold on and get their first win in Magnolia since 2020, 7-5.
Mattern and Gordon led in hits with two each, while Mattern and McCarty each had two RBI.
The Rangers will finish out the series against Southern Arkansas at noon.
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