CLAREMORE, Okla. - Rogers State baseball (27-19, 17-17 MIAA) used some late inning magic to come back and upset No. 19 Fort Hays State (32-13, 26-8 MIAA) in the 6-5 win in the first game of a three game set on Thursday.

"It has been a while since we won one like that," said head coach Chris Klimas. "We have been close and have been in a lot of games like that. But that's just the way it is in the MIAA. Everybody is good, and you're in the pressure cooker every weekend. When you fall down 3-0 to a pitcher like that, it's really hard to come back from that. The two home runs loosened us up, and then Andrew Ramirez came up with two big, hero at-bats late to get it for us."

After a scoreless first inning, the Tigers jumped on the board with a 2-0 lead in the second off an RBI double down the right field line and an RBI single up the middle. They tacked on an insurance run in the third to go up 3-0 with a solo homer to right.

The Hillcats began to fight back in the bottom of the fourth as Andres Contreras and Jake Mitchell went back-to-back with solo shots to right field and left center, respectively, to get within one at 3-2.

FHSU pushed the lead back to 4-2 in the sixth with an RBI double down the left field line, and pushed out to a 5-2 lead in the seventh with a leadoff home run to right.

RSU began to build their comeback in the home half of the seventh as Carson Cheatwood laid down a perfect bunt into no man's land for a base hit to lead things off. Tyler Nelson put runners in scoring position as he doubled down the left field line. Andrew Ramirez laced a ball up the middle to bring in both Cheatwood and Nelson to get things back to one run at 5-4. 

In the eighth inning, Mitchell led off with a single to third base. With two outs, Nelson put runners at the corners with a single up the middle. During the next at-bat, they both executed a perfect double steal attempt with Mitchell scoring from third to tie things up. Ramirez stepped to the plate and blasted a ball to the left field corner, driving in Nelson to put the Hillcats in front 6-5 and secure the upset win.

Ricardo Landeros (3-2) earned the win, working 2.1 innings in relief and only allowing one run on one hit. Blake Johnson (2) picked up the save as he came in and slammed the door in the ninth with a perfect frame, notching one strikeout. Kaleb Carpenter (4-3) took the loss.

The Hillcats will try to take the series in game two tomorrow. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.