By RANGERS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
It was opening weekend in Great American Conference play and the Rangers hosted Harding University. Originally scheduled to be played in Searcy, Arkansas, the series had to be moved north to Alva to avoid inclement weather. Northwestern took the first game of the doubleheader 6-2 after a grand slam from Johnnuelle Ponce but dropped a 9-1 decision to the Bisons in game two.
Game 1
Walker Wharton toed the rubber looking for his third win in as many starts as the Rangers took on Harding in the first GAC game of the season. Because of the change in venues, the Bisons were the designated home team despite playing in Alva.
Wharton continued his string of dominant pitching as he held Harding off the board in his first five innings, allowing the Rangers to strike first.
Northwestern led off the top of the sixth loading the bases with three straight singles from Luis Cintron, Jorin Van Amstel and Justin Bundy, setting the stage for Ranger centerfielder Ponce. Ponce drilled a 1-2 offering from Bisons starter Austin Allen that cleared high over the centerfield wall for a grand slam.
But the Bisons answered back in the bottom half of the sixth with two runs of their own.
Wharton would strand a two-out single in the seventh before being lifted in the eigth for Matthew Bickford. Back-to-back doubles by juniors Greg Carrington and TJ Kassner added another insurance run for Wharton, who›s six runs of support were the most behind him this season.
Bickford was excellent in relief, shutting the door and picking up the six-out save in two innings of work without allowing a baserunner.
Game 2
Looking to steal a series win, the Rangers sent right-hander Sean Rydell to the hill in the second game in search of his second win of the year.
The Rangers were roughed up in a tough second inning. Rydell was lifted by head coach Ryan Bowen in favor of reliever Nick Llorente, but the sophomore was unable to record an our while walking two and allowing two earned runs.
Trevor Stone entered the game but fared no better, surrendering two more runs before freshman Bryson Wrobel finally stopped the rally.
Harding starter Tanner Smith went the distance giving up just one run on four hits with a walk. The Bison hung on to win game two 9-1.
Game 3
Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball notched 26 hits in a 25-11 blowout win over Harding University Sunday to take a 2-1 series victory in the first Great American Conference action of the season. The Rangers launched five home runs (Daschal Johnson, Van Amstel, Bundy, Ponce, Harrison Hull) that accounted for 13 of their runs on a windy afternoon at Myers Stadium, including Ponce’s second grand slam in as many days.
The Rangers scored early and often in what ended up being the highest scoring game in GAC history (36 runs) and gave freshman left-hander Ryan Marcoccia plenty of run support to work with. The California native impressed in his third start going five innings without allowing a run to pick up his first win in the black-and-red.
First baseman Bundy and catcher Hull each homered in a four-run second to open the scoring. But the Rangers really broke things open when they hung nine runs on the Bisons in the third to take a 13-0 lead early in the ballgame.
After a hitting a go-ahead grand slam in Saturday’s 6-2 win over Harding in game one, Ponce was at it again as he smashed a fastball from Reed Roberts over the left-field wall for another grand slam and his eighth RBI of the series. Ponce reached base in five of his six plate appearances on the afternoon.
Northwestern added five more runs in the top of the third after Daschal Johnson hit a three-run shot for his second of the season while Jorin Van Amsteldrove in another run before Harding’s Connor McVay was finally able to stop the bleeding.
Despite leading by 13, the Rangers knew it would be a shootout with the wind blowing 35 MPH out to center. The Bisons answered in the bottom of the third with a four-run frame to cut into the deficit.
Bundy cashed in on two RBI’s in the fifth when he smoked a double into the gap in right-center, scoring Van Amstel and second baseman Luis Cintron. Northwestern would tack on three more in the sixth thanks to a Van Amstel home run to make it an 18-4 game.
A previously quieted Harding dugout rallied in the sixth and seventh to post seven runs and cut the lead to 18-11, and with the wind blowing out the way it was Northwestern knew they needed to keep their foot on the gas pedal.
The Rangers responded with eight hits in the eighth to add another seven runs, including two doubles in the inning by junior shortstop Kassner.
Red-shirt junior Matt Goertzen was touched up for three earned runs in his first inning of the season. Goertzen had been sidelined for the first few weeks while dealing with discomfort in his throwing shoulder. Brandon Nesseralla threw one inning allowing four runs (one earned) on three hits before giving way to senior Tyler Bernhardt, who struck out the side in the eigth to seal the victory.
Northwestern would go on to win 25-11 in a run-rule shortened game to move to 7-4 (2-1 GAC).