CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State softball team split a doubleheader with in-state rival Northeastern State on Tuesday on Military Appreciation Night at the Diamond Sports Complex. The Hillcats won game one, 10-1, in six innings, and dropped game two, 7-6, on a late NSU run in the seventh inning.
Rogers State 10, Northeastern State 1
The navy and red poured on 10 runs late to cruise to a 10-1 win in six innings in game one.
The Cats turned a close game into a blowout with six runs in the fifth inning. Senior infielder
Morgen Blanchard put the navy and red up 5-1 with a grand slam home run to deep center field. NSU helped the Hillcats with an error on a dropped popup that allowed two more runs to score for a 7-1 edge.
The sixth inning saw the Cats pour on three more runs to end the game at 10-1 due to the run rule.
Kenzie Lloyd started the scoring with a double to center to score
Katelyn Gamble. Blanchard made it back-to-back homers, knocking a two-run shot to center for the final 10-1 score.
The RiverHawks took an early advantage with a sac fly in the first inning for a 1-0 score.
RSU tied the score at 1-1 with one run in the fourth inning when
Kayla Patterson scored
Ashley Williams with a sacrifice fly.
Blanchard went 2-for-4 with six RBI, tying the RSU single game record for RBIs. The Hillcats posted 11 hits in the game.
Megan Rosewell started in the circle, earning the win, her 20th of the season. The junior pitcher allowed only one run on six hits in 6.0 innings.
Northeastern State 7, Rogers State 6
After the Hillcats rallied to tie the score at 6-6, the visiting RiverHawks plated one run in the seventh inning to take the 7-6 win in game two.
NSU opened the seventh inning with a lead-off walk, and a sac bunt moved the baserunner into scoring position. The RiverHawks took advantage of the opportunity with a double to center by Sierra Crick to score the winning run for a 7-6 score.
Gamble singled with two outs in the seventh, but the navy and red popped out in the infield to end the game.
Facing a 6-4 deficit heading into the sixth inning, the Hillcats put up two runs to tie the score at 6-6.
Arika Araujo doubled to the gap in right to score Lloyd to push the Cats to within one at 6-5, and
Taylor Santistevan evened the score at 6-6 with a double off the wall in right to plate Williams.
After NSU scored two runs in the first inning, RSU pulled even at 2-2 with runs in the first and second innings. Blanchard continued her strong day with a single to right to score Lloyd for a 2-1 margin in the first inning. In the second inning,
Danelle Day hit her second career homer, a solo shot down the line for the 2-2 tie.
Crick gave the RiverHawks the lead once again in the third inning with a two-run homer to center for a 4-2 advantage.
The Cats evened the score again in their half of the inning when Day singled to right and
Mikayla Waggnor and Patterson came home for a 4-4 score.
With two runs in the fourth inning on a two-RBI double, the RiverHawks took a 6-4 lead before the late RSU rally.
Day posted a 2-for-4 performance with three RBI. RSU finished with 12 hits to only seven from NSU.
Edie Fairchild started game two, going the first 6.0 innings. She totaled two strikeouts with six hits and four runs. Rosewell came in to pitch the seventh inning and allowed the one run on one hit.
The Hillcats return to league action on Thursday with a doubleheader against Newman at 4 p.m. at the Diamond Sports Complex. The twin-bill is the start of a three-game series that concludes on Friday with one game at 12 p.m. Coverage for all three games will be available on the Hillcat Network at
www.rsuhillcats.com/live and on the radio on 91.3 FM.
