By NICK VILLALOBOS
Sports Editor
Northwestern baseball hosted Henderson State last weekend and grabbed the 2-1 series win.
The Rangers entered Myers Stadium Friday night after struggling on the road for much of the month of March.
On the mound to start game one of the series against the Reddies was Matthew Bickford. Bickford would go four and a third innings after giving up three runs and striking out only two batters.
Bickford’s replacement on the mound was Alexander Svetgoff, who recorded his fourth win of the season as he went four and two-thirds innings and not allowing a single run.
Leading the way for the Rangers from the plate was the trio of Jeff Martin, Logan Greenwalt and Logan Porter.
Martin finished going 2-for-4 from the plate with one run and two RBIs. Porter was close behind as he went 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. Greenwalt finished going 2-for-3 and crossing the plate three times.
The Rangers started the scoring early as they put three on the board in the first inning.
Henderson State would knot it up at three apiece in the top of the fifth inning, but in the bottom of the inning the Rangers bats came alive again as they added two more runs, pushing their lead to 5-3.
An RBI by Martin would add on another run in the seventh and in the eighth Ranger Christian Hammerl fired a double out to left field, bringing in another run and ending the Rangers scoring for the night.
After the Rangers built a 7-3 lead over the Reddies, Svetgoff would finish them off from there and seal the victory in game one.
In game two of the series on Saturday, the Rangers were unable to seal up the series win as they fell 4-9 to the Reddies.
In game three however, the Rangers managed to shrug off the game two loss and get the bats firing.
Leading the way for the Rangers in game three were Porter, Matt Benn, Joshua Caruso and Jason Freeman.
Benn went 3-for-4 from the plate, while recording three RBIs and three runs. Both Caruso and Freeman were close behind as they would each go 3-for-4 from the plate while recording two runs and three RBIs. Porter had a great day as well as he went 2-for-3 from the plate while recording one run.
It did not take long for the Rangers to jump out to an early lead as in the first inning. They took a 4-0 lead over the Reddies with help from a RBI by Benn and a three-run home run by Caruso.
Henderson State would answer back however. In the second and third innings they collected six total runs, giving them the 6-3 lead over the Rangers.
The Rangers were not down long as Martin grabbed an RBI double and Benn fired one over the back wall for a two-run home run in the fourth inning, giving them a 8-7 lead.
Henderson State would add another run in the fifth inning, closing the deficit to within one.
The Rangers however would get the bats firing yet again as in the fifth and sixth innings they scored six more runs.
Despite a late charge by the Reddies, the Rangers were able to hang on and get the 14-11 game three win and 2-1 series win behind the arm of Ranger pitcher Chase Randall, who came in as a reliever midway through the third inning.
Tuesday the Rangers played Newman as well for a non-conference tune-up game and unfortunately found themselves on the low end of the scoring as they lost 12-4.
The Rangers will be back at home Friday to face GAC opponent Harding starting at 5 p.m. with the conclusion of the series starting at noon Saturday.