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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State baseball team wrapped up its first MIAA series of the year against Northwest Missouri State Friday at Rousey Field.
 
The two teams began the day closing out the final two innings of the suspended contest from Thursday. The Bearcats (4-7, 2-2 MIAA) won that contest 12-10 and also won the series finale 7-0. The RiverHawks (6-3, 2-2 MIAA) took the middle bout 4-1 to chop up the four-game set.
 
Northeastern State will now host Arkansas-Fort Smith at 1 p.m. Feb. 24 in midweek non-conference action.
 
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE 12, NORTHEASTERN STATE 10
The Bearcats led 9-5 through seven innings when play was halted due to darkness. They came out and scored three more runs in the top of the eighth Friday morning to take a 12-5 lead, and they were able to halt an NSU comeback to secure the narrow triumph.
 
Sophomore Caleb Hill led Northeastern State with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate. He also belted four RBI and scored once on a home run. Senior Preston Cash, junior Gabriel Wurth and sophomore Licio Timburlini all had two hits.
 
Freshman Dustin Berrong (0-1) suffered the loss after conceding two runs in 0.2 innings of relief. Senior starter Waylon Davis took a no-decision after allowing four runs on five hits in 2.0 innings. Sophomore Zack Hammock threw the next 3.1 frames and gave up just one unearned run on three hits. Relievers Clay Debban, Hayden Walch and Gabe Coldwell also pitched, and they all gave up unearned runs.
 
Jacob Wagner (1-0) picked up the victory for NWMSU after throwing 0.1 innings of relief. Starter Anthony Caenepeel went 5.1 frames and conceded three earned runs on four hits. Kole Klocko gave up two runs in 0.1 innings, and Joseph Hietpas earned the save.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE 4, NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE 1
Senior Kyle Shambaugh, the reigning MIAA Pitcher of the Week, improved to 3-0 on the year after another successful outing. He conceded just one run on six hits, while striking out six and walking just three.
 
He made way for junior closer Jake Kern, who allowed two hits but was able to get all three outs for his third save of the year.
 
All four NSU runs were plated in the fifth, which began with a full-count walk by Hill. A single from junior Eric Kirkpatrick was followed by an RBI single from junior Jamie Graeser that plated Hill. Kirkpatrick later stole home, and Graeser and junior Charles Sims also scored in the inning.
 
Senior Jorge Ozuna led the RiverHawks with a 3-for-3 day at the plate. NWMSU outhit NSU 8-7, but the Bearcats' lone run in the top of the sixth was not enough to stay with the home team.
 
Nick Gotta, Steven Garber and Nick Howard combined for six of NWMSU's eight hits. Hietpas (0-2) started on the mound after earning the save in the previous game, and he took the loss after conceding four runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings.
 
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE 7, NORTHEASTERN STATE 0
The Bearcats were able to secure some late-inning magic to make sure they would go back to Maryville with a series split.
 
Neither team scored through the first five innings as both starting pitchers threw well. A two-run home run from NWMSU's Austin Wulff in the top of the sixth was all the Bearcats would need to take the victory. He hit a home run off senior reliever Hayden Walch, who had just taken the mound from sophomore Bobby Sehgal. Sehgal (1-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up a hit in the inning, but he conceded just three hits total across 5.1 frames. He also picked up three strikeouts.
 
Walch gave up three runs on two hits in 2.2 innings. Kern threw the final frame and allowed three runs on three hits.
 
The Bearcats outhit NSU 8-6. No NSU player had more than one hit, while Wulff finished 2-for-2 with five RBI and two runs scored. James Holler and Garrett Fort also went 2-for-4.
 
Starter Nikko Pablo (1-1) gave up five hits and no runs in 6.0 innings to earn the win. Carson Smith threw 2.1 innings and was awarded his second save of the season.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH TRAVIS JANSSEN
Initial statement…
"It was a tough couple of days due to the weather. It was a pretty evenly-played series. There were some ups and downs, just like there will be at any time this year. We're going to try to build on the good things and correct the bad things. Our starting pitching in three out of the four games was really good. That's always where you start when you look at a team. We didn't score a whole lot of runs, but we just have to keep getting better. It wasn't an easy weekend to score, but we still have room to improve in that area. Our numbers coming into this series have been outstanding. I know we're going to have a very good offense this year, it's just really hard to score with a 25-degree wind chill. We just have to find ways to win low scoring games when we're not able to put up a ton of runs, and we were able to do that twice in this series. You'd sure like to win your series at home, but winning two conference games this week is a good start for us."
 
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