BY OAKLEE FIELDER
The Rangers swept the Southern Nazarene University Crimson Storm last weekend in a three-game series with two games ending with a lead of over 10 runs.
The Rangers came back home after defeating Panhandle State on March 24 for a weekend against Southern Nazarene. The Crimson Storm entered as the expected losers as they sat at the bottom of the Great American Conference standings with only one conference win. The Rangers were able to hold their ground against SNU and swept them in the three-game series.
After the three wins, the Rangers still sit in the lower parts of the standings 9th. They are above East Central and are just one win behind Henderson State, Oklahoma Baptist and Ouachita Baptist.
After the win over Panhandle and the three wins over SNU, Jailon Goodfellow was announced as the GAC Player of the Week. Goodfellow had reached base 14 out of 16 at bats. He had six runs scored, eight hits, 10 RBIs and two homeruns over the four games. These are some amazing stats that hopefully will carry over to next week.
SNU 2-5 NWOSU
The first game against the Crimson Storm had the Rangers down by one to start. SNU scored in the first inning, and held the lead until the fifth.
In the fifth, Goodfellow hit a homerun to left field, taking Joel Lindahl home with him. The Rangers kept their momentum rolling into the next inning as Chase Gordon hit a sacrifice out to send Alex Dabrowski home. In the seventh, the Rangers’ momentum didn’t stop, and they scored two more runs to extend their lead to four.
Lindahl hit a double to left center to send Jason McCarty home. Then, after Matthew Bailey got onto base, Jailon Goodfellow hit a single to left field, sending Lindahl home to make it a 5-1 game.
The Crimson Storm were not able to score anymore runs, besides one in the top of the ninth, giving the win to the home team to start the long weekend for SNU.
Lindahl and Goodfellow had two hits to each of their names. Goodfellow had three RBIs. Will Kates started on the mound and had three strikeouts. Elias Herrera relieved Kates and had three strikeouts as well. Ryan McClaskey came onto the mound to close the final inning and struck out the two batters he faced.
SNU 1-19 NWOSU
The Rangers continued their momentum off of the first game, and put a beatdown on the Crimson Storm in the next games. The Crimson Storm opened the game with a run scored in the first inning. The Rangers then scored in the next six straight innings, with two innings having more than five runs scored by Northwestern.
In the second inning, Goodfellow hit a homerun to score, taking Bailey with him, giving Northwestern the lead. In the third, the Rangers scored two more times with a double from Gordon sending Blake Mattern home, and a sacrifice fly from Cole Barton sending Gordon home.
The Rangers were not done there, they scored six runs in the fourth, extending their lead to nine. After Brandon Jennings, Dabrowski and Barton had RBIs, Lindahl hit a homerun with McCarty and Barton on base, giving Northwestern three more runs.
The fifth inning wasn’t as wild as the one before, as there was only one run scored by the Rangers. Barton hit a single to send Mattern home, giving the Rangers a 10-run lead. In the sixth, the Rangers locked in the win, if there was any doubt, with eight runs in the inning.
The Rangers walked away from the first game of the day with a huge 18-run win over the Crimson Storm.
Gordon had the most hits with four, he also had three RBIs. Barton and Lindahl had four RBIs. Mattern and Goodfellow had three runs scored. Logan Sandoval pitched all seven innings of the game. He ended with six strikeouts and only four hits against him.
SNU 2-14 NWOSU
The Rangers stomped Southern Nazarene in the final game of the series, forcing this game to end in seven innings as well.
The Rangers opened scoring in the third inning with their second eight-run inning of the weekend. Jennings, Mattern, Barton, McCarty and Lindahl all had singles, sending various runners home. Then, there was a wild pitch which allowed McCarty to run home. Later, Goodfellow hit a double to send Bailey and Lindahl home.
SNU responded with a homerun in the following inning, but that was immediately cut down by a run scored by Northwestern in the same inning.
In the fifth, Mattern hit a double, sending Dabrowski, Jennings and Bailey home, giving the Rangers a 11-run lead. Southern Nazarene had a run scored in the sixth, but then, Northwestern scored two runs after a hit from Goodfellow.
Goodfellow, Lindahl and Mattern had three hits. Goodfellow and Mattern had four RBIs. Bailey ran home the most with three runs scored. Kyle Holzer had five strikeouts in the five innings he pitched.
The next games for NWOSU will be against Oklahoma Baptist this weekend in Shawnee. Then, they go to Topeka to face Washburn University. Oklahoma Baptist is one of the close rivals in the standings, which might prove as an important weekend with only four weeks left in the season.