ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball team won both games of their doubleheader against Southern Nazarene Saturday to sweep the series against the Crimson Storm.
Game 1
Southern Nazarene opened the game with a run in the top of the first, but the Rangers responded in the bottom of the second with
Matthew Bailey getting hit by a pitch and
Jailon Goodfellow homering to left field to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
Blake Mattern blasted a double to the left center field wall in the third inning, and moved to third on wild pitch.
Chase Gordon brought him home with a double of his own to push the lead to 3-1, and moved to third on another wild pitch.
Cole Barton brought Gordon home on a sacrifice fly to right field to give Northwestern a three-run advantage through three innings.
Goodfellow and
Brandon Jennings started the bottom of the fourth inning with back-to-back doubles to extend the lead to 5-1, and
Alex Dabrowski singled up the middle and stole second to not only make it 6-1, but break the Northwestern single season record for most steals in a season with 33 steals. Barton sent another single up the middle to bring Dabrowski home and bring the lead to 7-1.
Jason McCarty slapped a single through the right side, and
Joel Lindahl crushed a three-run bomb to center field for his first home run of the season to put Northwestern up 10-1.
The Ranger bats stayed hot in the fifth, as Mattern walked to start the inning with Gordon and Barton singling to bring another run home and extended the lead to 10 runs. In the bottom of the sixth, Goodfellow drew a walk before Dabrowski and Mattern got hit by pitches. Gordon ripped a single to left field to bring two more runs to bring the lead to 13-1.
Barton hit a single to center field to keep the runs coming to expand the lead to 14-1, and McCarty singled to the third baseman to bring another run in. McCarty scored on a balk to bring the lead to 16-1, and Lindahl smashed a double to the left field wall to increase the lead to 17-1.
DJ Barrett added on to the total with a single to center field, with Goodfellow getting on base with a walk and Jennings making it 19-1 with a single to left field.
Gordon led the Rangers in hits with four, while Barton and Lindahl led in RBI with three each.
Logan Sandoval recorded six strikeouts in his fifth win of the season and his third complete game.
Game 2
Game two of the series started off as a pitching duel, with the Rangers jumping on top in the bottom of the third as Bailey, Goodfellow, and Jennings hit three straight singles to go up 1-0. Mattern brought another run in a single to center field, and Barton kept the inning going with another single to left field. McCarty added another run by slicing a single to center field to make it 4-0, with Lindahl adding another run with a hit to the shortstop. McCarty scored on a wild pitch, and Goodfellow doubled to bring the score to 8-0.
The Crimson Storm tacked on a run in the top of the fourth, but the Rangers answered back in the bottom of the inning with Mattern singling, stealing second, and Gordon singling to right field to move the lead back to eight. The Rangers kept pouring on runs in the fifth, as Mattern cleared the bases with a three-run double to the wall to put Northwestern up 12-1.
Southern Nazarene added another run in the sixth to cut the deficit down to 10, but the Rangers responded in the bottom of the inning with Goodfellow scoring two more with a single to give Northwestern a 14-2 win.
Mattern, Lindahl and Goodfellow led the Rangers in hits with three, while Mattern and Goodfellow led in RBI with four each.
The Rangers will be back in action on April 3, when they travel to Shawnee to take on Oklahoma Baptist University at 6 p.m.
For the latest news and updates on NWOSU, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com
