By RYAN SHUMAKER
Sports Editor
The Ranger baseball team finished with a .500 record on opening weekend at Glass Family Field at Myers Stadium this past weekend.
The Rangers took on Northeastern State University and West Texas A&M University this weekend, competing against each team twice.
On Friday the Rangers faced the Riverhawks of Northeastern in a double header during which the Rangers would best the Riverhawks in both games.
The Rangers won the first game 2-0, behind lefty starting pitcher Walker Wharton’s strong outing. Walker picked up the win for the Rangers while giving up no earned runs, only six hits and striking out four.
The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning when freshman Steven Deckard sac bunted runners Matt Benn and Jacob Long into scoring position, allowing Alexis Torres to drive in both runners before being thrown out trying to stretch the base hit into a double.
After gaining the lead, the Rangers would cruise until the top of the seventh, when the Riverhawks hit three singles in a row loading the bases. Junior Jonathan Bauer would come in to relieve Wharton and retire the only batter he faced, earning him the save and the Rangers their first victory of opening weekend.
That evening the Rangers welcomed the Riverhawks back onto the diamond for the second half of their scheduled doubleheader. The Rangers would take this one into extras in a game that provided much more offense then the first meeting before winning 6-5.
Massachusetts native Matt Bickford would get the start and provided the Rangers five solid innings in which he struck out four Riverhawks and only gave up four walks. Northeastern struck first in the top of the second with a two run single to open up the scoring. The Riverhawks tacked on another run in the third before freshman Greg Carrington was walked in and first basemen Alex Phillip’s two run single evened the game up at three in the sixth. Following a Riverhawks pitching change, Torres stepped up again for the Black-and-Red with a double that scored Deckard, giving the Rangers the 4-3 lead.
Graduate student Thomas Bess would extend the Rangers lead another run, scoring on Long’s pop-up to the outfield in the seventh.
The Rangers bullpen initially gave up the lead in the top of the ninth, but would ultimately hang on long enough for shortstop Xyruse Martinez to give the Rangers their second victory of the weekend and the year in walk-off style with a single scoring runner Casey Dickerman.
On Saturday the Rangers faced the second of their opponents for the weekend and the results would not be quite as positive for the Rangers.
West Texas A&M provided dominate pitching that shut down the Rangers offense. In two games against the Buffs the Rangers line-up would strike out 28 times while only getting nine hits in both games. The Rangers lost the first game 8-0, and then the second game 3-2.
The Rangers (2-6) travel to Durant, Okla. this weekend to take on Southeastern Oklahoma State University in their first Great American Conference series of the year.