TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State's Blake Freeman was 3-5 at the plate and Jaxon Phipps picked up two RBI's in an 8-4 loss to Northwest Missouri State in the MIAA conference opener at Rousey Field here Friday.

The RiverHawks fall to 1-10 on the year and 0-1 in conference play.  

Northeastern State flipped the script in the opener, out hitting the Bearcats 13-7, but just could not turn those hits into runs.

Six RiverHawks posted multiple hits on the day.  Freeman paced NSU with three hits, Phipps,

Zack Henderson, Colton Burgess, Erick Espinosa, and Wes O'Neill each had two hits apiece.

NSU starter Dustin Berrong gave two earned runs on five hits while striking out six in five innings of work.  Berrong was credited with the loss.

Northwest Missouri State jumped out to the early lead, posting two runs in the first inning, two more in the fifth and four in the sixth inning to take a commanding 8-0 lead.

The RiverHawks finally turned those hits into runs in the seventh.  Back to back singles and a Bearcat error had the bases loaded.  Alex Brough brought home the first run on a long sacrifice fly to left field, singles from Espinosa and Freeman plated two more and Phipps singled home another cutting the deficit to 8-4.  However, NSU would leave two on base as the Bearcats ended the rally.

Northwest Missouri held the NSU bats in check over the final two innings taking the opener 8-4.

The series continues on Saturday with a nine-inning game slated to start at 2:00 p.m.