CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State topped NAIA No. 2 ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan, 9-7, Tuesday afternoon at the Diamond Sports Complex.
The Hillcats allowed 17 hits to the Eagles but RSU took advantage of five OKWU errors in the nonconference affair. RSU added 14 hits to register its 15
th non-conference victory of the year.
RSU posted three runs in the first inning as
Sam Davison scored from third on a wild pitch for the first run of the night and put runners in scoring position with one out.
Jason Marley doubled to right field scoring
Chris Miguel and
Bradley Degnan for the 3-0 RSU lead.
OKWU tallied a run in the second inning and faced the minimum in the bottom of the inning. The Eagles took the lead in the third as Trevor Achenbach led off with a triple. A single up the middle by Rodolfo Oleta scored Achenbach to trim the Hillcats lead to 3-2.
After a single for the Eagles, Christopher Acosta-Tapia followed with a three-run home run to left center as OKWU took the lead 5-3.
The Hillcats evened the score at five runs a piece in the fourth started by a triple to right center by
Matt Seubert with one out to score
Brooks Douglass.
Sam Davison scored Seubert with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
The Eagles added a run in the fifth and appeared ready to add more before
Josh Eclavea entered with the bases loaded. The Hillcat reliever would force Hunter Henry into a double play as RSU third baseman
Matt Seubert wisely fired home for the force out of Alejandro Hernandez before catcher
Garrett Hall fired to first for the second out. Eclavea would retire the next batter with a strike out and send the Hillcats to the plate trailing by a run.
RSU would answer in the home half of the inning with a double by Hall to left field scoring
Ismael Orozco and Marley for a 7-6 Hillcat lead.
RSU added an insurance run as Seubert began the sixth inning with a double to center field. A Davison sac bunt moved the Hillcats third baseman to third. A drop foul ball by the catcher would have given RSU two outs. That was followed by a fielding error by the OKWU third baseman allowing
Chris Miguel to reach safely and score Seubert to put RSU up 8-6.
Acosta-Tapia doubled in the seventh with one out and reached third on a single to right by Will Price to put runners on the corners. Head Coach
Chris Klimas called upon the bullpen and Justin Magstandt forced Henry into his second double play of the afternoon with a traditional 6-4-3 putout to end the inning.
The insurance run by RSU proved much needed after the Hillcats turned its third double play as OKWU added a run in the eighth on a RBI double by Achenbach to trim the lead to 8-7 with two outs. Hillcat closer
Rusty Huber was called upon and after a hit-by-pitch struck out Hernandez to close out the inning.
Bradley Degnan drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Hillcats.
Chris Miguel doubled to right center to score Degnan and gave RSU a 9-7 lead. Huber earned the save, his sixth of the year, as the Hillcat right hander faced four batters in the ninth allowing one hit and striking out two.
Brock Knoten received the start for RSU, his first of the season, and went four innings allowing six runs on 11 hits. Eclavea received the win in 2.1 innings of relief allowing two hits and striking out one batter.
Oklahoma Wesleyan (26-6) saw Jeffery Deavenport receive the loss in one inning of relief work allowing three runs, one earned, on three hits.
Chris Miguel went 3-for-5 with two RBI while
Brooks Douglass batted 3-for-4 in the bottom of the Hillcat lineup. With two extra base hits,
Matt Seubert finished 2-5 with one RBI and two runs scored for RSU.
Rogers State (17-9) hosts No. 19 ranked St. Edward's for a three-game series beginning Friday, March 24 at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader at the Diamond Sports Complex. RSU Radio 91.3 FM will broadcast the action with live video and audio streaming available on the Hillcat Network at
www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
