CLAREMORE, Okla. – The No. 5-ranked Rogers State baseball team went 2-2 over the weekend at the Dallas Christian College Festival at Reverchon Park in Dallas, Texas.
The Hillcats dropped two games Friday to Tabor College (Kan.) 1-0 and the University of Texas-Tyler 3-1. Saturday saw the Diamond Cats fortune turn with a 5-4 victory over host Dallas Christian and a 1-0 win versus Tabor College to cap off the festival.
Game One
Both teams were held scoreless through three innings when in the top of the fourth the Hillcats looked ready to plate a run. Jose Olazagasti doubled down the right field line and moved to third on a wild pitch by the Bluejays pitcher.
Cody Campbell came to the plate and reached on a fielder's choice as Olazagasti was tagged out prior to reaching home on a throw from the shortstop.
The two squads remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Tabor's Art Corona led off the inning with a walk. A sacrifice bunt by Grant Silva moved Corona to second and a RBI single by Kevin Seeger plated Corona to put the Bluejays up 1-0 after six.
In the visitor's half of the seventh inning Keith Poverud singled to leftfield. Coach Ron Bradley inserted Alex Cochran as a pinch runner for Poverud and Tyler Wheeler in as a pinch hitter for Johan Ochoa. Wheeler doubled in his first at-bat of the game putting two Cats in scoring position with two outs. Blake Heston, who was inserted to centerfield in the first inning, struck out swinging to end the Hillcats comeback hopes as RSU fell 1-0.
Josh Stone earned the victory for Tabor as he pitched seven complete allowing six hits with no earned runs. He walked one batter and fanned three Hillcats.
Brandon Bargas (1-1) pitched the complete six innings in the loss allowing just three hits with one earned run. The Owasso, Okla. native fanned six batters and walked two with 71 total pitches.
Game Two
In the opening day, nightcap of the Dallas Christian College Festival the Hillcats couldn't build upon a one run first inning as they fell to UT-Tyler, 3-1.
Hector Rivera reached on a walk and advanced to second on a Colton Campbell single. Wheeler reached on a walk to load the bases for the Hillcats in the top of the first. A Cody Campbell RBI ground out scored Rivera and put RSU up 1-0.
Neither team scored until NCAA Division III UT-Tyler posted a three run bottom of the sixth. Cayden Cunniff doubled to left to score Sam Lane and tied the contest at 1-1.
The Patriots weren't finished in the sixth as Cunniff moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by Kevan House. The Hillcats went to the bullpen bringing in sophomore T.J. Law to replace starter Shawn Spainhoward. A passed ball followed by a wild pitch scored Issac Tijerina to push UT-Tyler's advantage to 3-1. A fly-out double play ended the inning and sent RSU into the seventh looking for a rally.
Back-to-back strike outs to start the inning followed by a fly-out to left gave RSU its second loss of the season.
Both teams finished with just four hits each as the UT-tYLER pitchers struck out nine batters. RSU pitchers fanned six Patriots in the loss.
Chance Cotton earned the win for UT-Tyler as he went six innings allowing one earned run and striking out seven. Derek Miller struck out two in one inning of relief for the save.
Shawn Spainhoward (1-1) received the loss in 5.1 innings pitched with six strike outs as the senior allowed two earned runs.
Game Three
After going 0-2 Friday the sun rose Saturday for the Hillcats as they returned to the win column with a 5-4 victory over Dallas Christian College.
Blake Heston led off the first inning with a single to right and stole second to move into scoring position. A ground out by Hector Rivera moved Heston to third. Two batters later Cody Campbell singled to right to score Heston to give RSU a 1-0 lead.
DCC answered in the bottom half of the inning as the second batter in the order, Corey Lee, tripled and then scored on a sac-fly by Dustin Tarpley to tie the game 1-1.
The Hillcats kept the scoring going in the second inning. A leadoff double to right-centerfield by Ramcy Lora followed by a Keith Poverud sacrifice fly moved Lora to third. McKenzie Matthews grounded out to second to score Lora putting the Cats back ahead at 2-1.
It wasn't until the bottom of the third inning that the Crusaders answered as Tarpley earned his second RBI of the game with a single to score Lee, tying the game at 2-2.
RSU added another run in the fourth as Lora tallied the first homerun of the season for the Hillcats. The solo shot gave back the lead to RSU at 3-2.
In the bottom of the sixth inning the Crusaders added a pair of runs to lead 4-3 heading to the final inning.
DCC went called upon Justin Browning to claim the save but the Hillcats thwarted the Crusaders hopes. After a leadoff strike out for RSU, Nick Malter pinch hit and sent it over the right field fence to tie the game at 4-4. Heston doubled and scored three batters later on a single by Wheeler as RSU led 5-4 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Mason Marquette came in to close the game for the Hillcats. The Broken Arrow, Okla. native allowed one walk while forcing two ground outs and a fly out to secure the 5-4 victory.
Marquette registered the save while Zach Tyson was the winning pitcher for RSU. Tyson pitched two innings of relief allowing two runs, one earned, while striking out three. Casey Cassity started for the Cats giving up two earned runs as the senior fanned three in the no decision.
Justin Browning earned the loss for DCC in one inning of work. Bryce Jones went six innings for the Crusaders allowing three earned runs and striking out seven.
Ramcy Lora finished 2-for-3 in the game with a solo homerun. Blake Heston went 2-for-4 in the leadoff spot for the Hillcats as he tallied two runs.
Game Four
The final game of the festival came down to the final inning as the Hillcats topped Tabor College 1-0.
Both squads were held scoreless as Hillcat starter Kyle Duncan went five scoreless, hitless innings of action striking out five Bluejays and walking two.
In the sixth inning Jesus Del Rosario went two innings in relief allowing one hit while not allowing a run. He fanned three batters and issued one walk to earn the win for RSU.
Olazagasti led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double to right. Colton Campbell singled to right but Olazagasti was caught stretching on a throw from the right fielder. Tyler Wheeler reached on a fielder's choice and moved to second on a passed ball. A RBI single by Cody Campbell to leftfield scored Wheeler giving RSU the 1-0 victory.
The Campbell brothers combined to hit 4-for-6 as Cody had the lone RBI in the game.
Matt Lambert received the loss for Tabor as he allowed one earned run on seven hits. He struck out four Hillcats as he threw 74 pitches.
Rogers State (6-2) returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 12 in Muskogee, Okla. to face Bacone College. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on the campus of Bacone College.
