By RYAN SHUMAKER
Sports Editor
Northwestern baseball defeated Arkansas-Monticello University on Saturday afternoon to avoid the series sweep this weekend at Myers Stadium.
After winning their first two conference series of the year, the Rangers stumbled in the first two games of the season losing 4-3 and 7-2. The Rangers regrouped in the second half of the doubleheader and defeated the Boll Weevils, 4-0.
In the first game of the series the Boll Weevils jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on Ranger starting pitcher Walker Wharton. Senior Zach Postoak came on in relief for Wharton in the fifth and pitched four innings of baseball, which included only one earned run to go along with five strikeouts.
The Rangers offense finally put some runs on the board in the seventh when shortstop Xyruse Martinez hit a sac-fly to deep center which scored center fielder Thomas Bess. After a lead-off double and a fly-out which advanced the runner to third, the Boll Weevils regained a three run lead when Arkansas native Cole Anderson let a ball slip by him behind the plate.
In the bottom half of the inning the Rangers narrowed the lead down to only one run behind junior Jacob Long’s two RBI single to center field. The inning would end when Long got caught stealing second.
The Rangers entered the ninth inning trailing the Boll Weevils by one and after the top half of the inning where reliever Stetson Buller would come on and strikeout all three batters he faced the score remained the same.
In the bottom half of the inning all three Rangers that stepped up to the plate would strikeout giving the Boll Weevils a 4-3 win.
The Rangers would send out starter Robert Lawhon in the second game of the series. Lawhon pitched six innings which included eight strikeouts, but ultimately took his third loss of the season as the Rangers defense would allow four errors during the course of the game, leading to a 7-2 loss.
Two bright spots that emerged for the Rangers during the game were right fielder Garrett Douglas’ stellar performance at the plate and Canada native Cooper Stanley’s home run in his only appearance at the plate of the season. Douglass and Stanley produced four of the five hits the Rangers had during the game.
Things would finally look up for the Rangers in the third game as they won 4-0 to avoid the series sweep. The star for the Rangers during the contest was starting pitcher Dakota Stanek, who pitched five innings while allowing no earned runs and only four hits.
Long scored on a passed ball in the second inning, giving the Rangers their first lead of the series. The next scoring play for the Rangers would come in the bottom of the fifth when catcher Cole Anderson hit a line drive off of the second baseman’s glove which scored two Rangers. The Rangers would score one more run on a wild double play in which second baseman Casey Dickerman would bunt a ball back to the pitcher who threw him out a first, but then Douglas got caught trying to advance to third base and was eventually tagged out.
After their first lost series of the year, the Rangers drop to 7-13(5-4 GAC), but are still right in the middle of the pack in conference play. The Rangers will hit the road Friday for their first road series of the year against pre-season conference favorite Southern Arkansas University. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m., followed by a double-header that will begin at 12 p.m. Games will be available for live streaming on www.riderangersride.com under the schedule section of baseball.