ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Northeastern State baseball team was eliminated from the 2016 MIAA Championship with a 6-2 loss to Central Oklahoma Friday morning at Lou Brock Complex.
 
The RiverHawks saw their season come to a close with a 27-23 record, while the Bronchos (30-21) advanced to the semifinals of the loser's bracket.
 
Northeastern State has hit the 25-win plateau in each of the last five seasons, which is the longest such stretch in school history. NSU also posted a winning record for the fourth time in the last five years and has qualified for the postseason all four years since joining the MIAA.
 
In Friday's loss to UCO, the Bronchos plated runs in the first and second innings and pushed across another pair of tallies in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead. NSU was finally able to score twice in the seventh, but Central Oklahoma answered twice in the bottom of the frame and shutout the RiverHawks the rest of the way.
 
Senior Cody Begovich hit his team-leading 15th home run of the season in the seventh. He ended the year with career highs in both homers and runs batted in (50). Sophomore Michael Rhea tallied a pair of hits and scored once. He was driven in by senior Shane Bridges.
 
Junior Daniel Faulk (1-3) took the hill first and left after two innings. He conceded a pair of runs on three hits, while striking out two and walking three. Junior Zack Hammock tossed the next 4.1 frames and allowed three earned runs on five hits. Juniors Zach Poehl and Tyler Yancey combined to pitch the final 1.2 innings.
 
Landon Eason and T.J. Sparr were the only Bronchos with multiple hits, and they both recorded two. Eason drove in three runs, and Jacob Borrego scored three times despite registering just one hit.
 
Brock Stuber (4-5) earned the win after allowing two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings. He struck out four and walked three. Greg Hyde and Gibson Russ threw the final 2.1 frames.

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