By MEGAN MAHARRY
Sports Reporter
The Ranger men baseball team played a three-game series against Henderson State on the road. The Rangers took the series 3-1.
In game one, the Rangers got off to a rough start in a 11-1 loss.
Pitcher Walker Wharton threw for a clean first inning before the Henderson State Reddies scored off a double in the 2nd. The Reddies stayed busy, putting up six more runs in the third and fourth innings.
Pitchers Brendan Kates and Brandon Nesseralla came in for relief to close out the game.
The lone run for the Rangers came from Judah Zickafoose on his 10th home run of the season. Daschal Johnson went 2-for-4 and Luis Cintron went 2-for-3.
The Rangers bounced back from the loss with a 3-2 victory in game two.
Pitcher Matt Goertzen pitched five clean innings with five strikeouts before reliever Sean Rydell stepped in during the sixth inning.
The Rangers struck first in the fourth on a double by Johnnuelle Ponce down the left field line. Justin Bundy put one up the middle to score Zickafoose making it a 2-0 Ranger lead.
Henderson State fought back in the sixth to score two runs, at which point the Rangers put in Tyler Bernhardt. Bernhardt dominated as the game went into extra innings, throwing 10 strikeouts and not giving up a hit.
It was not until the 10th inning that the Rangers plated the game winning run. Ponce delivered the bomb to center field that scored the final run.
In the final game of the series, the Rangers knocked off the second ranked team in the conference with a tight 2-1 victory.
Picher Matthew Bickford came in during the second to deliver a strong performance to stomp on the Reddies offense. He allowed only two hits while striking out five.
Henderson State struck first, scoring in the 1st off two base hits and a free pass. The Rangers were back in the game in the 7th, when Ponce hit his eighth home run of the season to tie, 1-1. Another run crossed the plate for the Rangers to give them the 2-1 advantage.
The Rangers held off the Reddie offense for the last two innings, claiming the win.
The Rangers play their final three-game conference series against rival Southwestern Oklahoma State University on the road.
