By RYAN SHUMAKER
Sports Editor
Northwestern baseball won their second consecutive conference series of the year this past weekend against East Central University in Alva, Oklahoma.
The Rangers started off the series on Friday with a 6-4 win. Left-hander Brody Ausfahl picked up the win and closer Jonathan Bauer picked up his third save of the season.
Junior Walker Wharton got the start and gave up a homer in the first inning, however due to errors none of the runs were actually earned. Wharton settled down and was finally given some run support in the third when center fielder Thomas Bess singled to center and scored Toronto, Canada native Greg Carrington and junior Casey Dickerman.
Carrington narrowed the lead to one run with an RBI sacrifice fly that scored right fielder Garrett Douglas in the fifth before junior Jacob Long homered to deep left to tie up the game at four.
Right-hander Trevor Rakers came on in the seventh for Wharton and loaded up the bases before Ausfahl came in and retired the batter with the bases still loaded.
Long gave the Rangers their first lead of the night with a single that scored Dickerman in the bottom half of the seventh and then scored on a Bess double to deep right field.
Bauer came on in the ninth and shut down the Tigers to earn the Rangers their third win of the season.
The Rangers and Tigers took to the field again on Saturday afternoon for a double-header. In the first game the Rangers lost 15-14 in a game both teams combined for a total of 5 homeruns when the south wind at Glass Family field played a major factor.
The two teams also had nine errors on the afternoon and the deciding factor in the sloppy game ended up being the three runners the Ranger’s pitching staff walked in the seventh inning. Junior Dakota Stanek was credited with the loss while a host of Rangers had stellar performances at the plate.
Shortstop Xyruse Martinez went 4-5 with four RBI’s and two runs. Long also continued his hot weekend going 3-6 with an RBI and three runs scored
In the afternoon game both teams settled down along with the wind, and the Rangers came out on top with an 8-6 victory. Senior Robert Lawhon put together his second strong performance on the mound pitching six innings, allowing one run, while striking out eight Tigers picking up his second win of the year along the way.
East Central jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first but the Rangers would pile on runs throughout the game, increasing their lead to as much as 8-1. The Tigers threatened to jump ahead in the seventh, scoring five straight runs, before Ausfahl came in and closed out the game.
On Tuesday evening the Rangers played a non-conference double-header against Oklahoma Christian University and dropped both contests 7-1 and 4-1. Bess, Dickerman, and senior’s Matt Benn and Jeremy Smith all hit over .300 on the day while senior Zach Postoak pitched six innings of great baseball in the second game.
The Rangers next home conference series will be Friday at 6 p.m. followed by a double-header Saturday beginning at noon.