MARYVILLE, Mo. – Rogers State baseball (25-20, 13-19 MIAA) couldn't hang on in a back-and-forth 10-6 game against Northwest Missouri (13-33, 10-22 MIAA) on Saturday.
The Hillcats jumped on the board early in the first inning with a 2-0 lead.
AJ Folds led the game off with a double to right field.
Prescott Horn followed suit by driving him in with a double to left center. Horn later scored on a wild pitch.
RSU added a run in the third to go up 3-0 as
Jesse Holguin plated Horn with a single to left center.
The Bearcats took their first lead of the game in the home half as they pushed across four runs to go up 4-3 on two two-run shots to left center.
The Hillcats retook the lead 5-4 with two runs in the fourth. Horn drove in
Conner Womack with a single to left. Horn then scored on an error by the shortstop.
NWMSU exploded for another four runs in the bottom half to go back up 8-5. Another two-run bomb to the left field corner and a two-RBI double to center scored the runs.
They expanded their lead out to 9-5 with a RBI double to right center in the seventh inning.
The Hillcats got a run back in the top of the eighth to cut the deficit to 9-6 off a Womack solo blast to the left field corner.
The Bearcats added one final run in the bottom of the eighth to seal the 10-6 win with a RBI single to left.
Max Spitzmiller (1-8) earned the win.
Giancarlo Cortez (2-4) took the loss.
The two sides will face off one final time in the regular season finale tomorrow for the series win. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.