By RANGERS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
Northwestern Oklahoma State took the field for the second and third games of the conference series against Southeastern Oklahoma State and would come up short in both, losing the series 2-1.
Three Ranger batters would come up with .250 plus batting averages as Nathan Kane would lead the way with a sizzling .714 after going 5-for-7 at the dish. Arturo Castro and Daschal Johnson were the other two hitters who went .333 and .250 respectively.
Game 1
Nick Llorente took the mound for the Rangers in the first of two on the afternoon and went 2.2 innings before being replaced by Collin Fouts. Llorente was the unfortunate recipient of a seven-run inning.
Northwestern would proceed to throw three more arms in Baron Phillips, Blake Jones and Thomas Sander who would complete the last three innings of the game.
The Rangers would have one batter who recorded two hits in the first of two games in Kane who was a steady 2-for-4.
Early on in the game, it was a battle of starting pitching as both teams went two straight innings of being scoreless, while only surrendering three hits combined. Southeastern would start squaring it up in the top of three however, putting up a seven spot, making it 7-0.
Northwestern wouldn’t be able to return the favor in the following at bat, going down in order in the third.
SOSU didn’t let off the gas in the following inning either, gaining another run to make it a commanding 8-0 lead heading into the bottom of four.
A leadoff shot to right field that dropped for an error put Jacob Long on base, which got the Rangers going in the fourth, and he was immediately followed up by a single to center by Castro who continued to keep the hot bat alive. Kane was up next for the hosts and smoked a single to centerfield, scoring Long from second to make it an 8-1 deficit.
The scoring would continue in the bottom of four as Dickerman would drop a blooper over the shortstop to score both Castro and Kane, making it an 8-3 lead for the visitors of Southeastern.
Unfortunately in the seventh inning, the Savage Storm increased their already large deficit to eight runs at 11-3. Three straight goose eggs on the board for the Rangers didn’t help the cause as the final four innings were all open.
The top of the eighth inning would eventually be the end of the game as SOSU would tack on five more to take a 16-3 lead, which would be the final score after a three-up three-down inning.
Game 2
Matthew Bickford took the mound in the second of the twin bill and went three full innings before being pulled due to an injury. Brandon Nesseralla replaced the starter and went three strong, giving up no runs, after which Sean Rydell came on in the seventh, and struck out the side.
Carrying over from game one of the day, Kane would go 3-for-3 at the dish, making it a 5-for-7 day for the redshirt junior. He would unfortunately be the sole Ranger hitter to go for multiple hits in game two
The first two innings ended in heartache for the visitors as they were able to get each leadoff batter on only to be erased in a pickoff and double play respectively to end the threats, but would catch fire in the third.
Northwestern did strike first in the contest however as Castro would drive home Long on a rifled single up the middle, but in the Savage Storm’s next at bat, they would knot it up at one apiece. The visitors weren’t quite done however as another run would be added on a triple to centerfield, followed by a passed ball to make it 3-1. Bickford would get out of the jam however after a fantastic play by Johnson on a double play ball.
The hosts wouldn’t come up with any runs in the third and Nesseralla came in to relieve an injured Bickford in the fourth and collect three straight outs.
The Rangers would again make strides in the fourth, loading the bases full of Rangers, but came away with nothing.
Northwestern would attempt to battle back in the late stages of the game, but five straight open frames would hurt the home club and it would finish that way and in a two-run loss, 3-1.
On March 3 Northwestern baseball took the home turf in the third conference series of the year against Southeastern Oklahoma State who came in 1-11 on the year while 0-6 in conference play. The Rangers would indeed add another loss to the column, following a 9-3 win in the opening game of the series.
Friday and Saturday baseball is traveling to East Central to take on the Tigers in a three-game conference series.