TAHLEQUAH – A defensive collapse in by Southwest Baptist in the bottom on the ninth paved the way for a Northeastern State 6-5 victory on Saturday afternoon.  

The win is the RiverHawks' seventh in a row to bring them to 10-21 overall and 7-10 in the MIAA.  

Trailing 5-1 into the ninth, the RiverHawks would load the bases with one out.  Wes O'Neill scored a run on a walk to get within three of the Bearcats.  Following a strikeout, Alex Massie reached on a misplayed ball to center.  Two more runs scored on the error with the tying run now standing a third.  Massie with Colton Wright at the plate advanced to second on a stolen base and represented the winning run. 

During Wright's at-bat, a swinging strike on a ball in the dirt skipped through the SBU (10-19, 4-13 MIAA) catcher to allow the tying run to score.  The ball would end up out of play allowing the winning run to cross home plate to cap the wild finish.  

Saturday's game opened on a different note with NSU starter Dustin Berrong breaking the program career strikeout record in the opening frame.  Needing two punch-outs, Berrong hit the 218 marker to close out the frame.  Berrong would get the no-decision with five innings pitched and five strikeouts. 

Nolan Sturgeon (2-1) picked up the win by pitching the ninth inning.  

Jaxon Phipps went 3-for-4 at the plate and was a homer short of the cycle.  Colton Burgess was 2-for-5 with an RBI. 

Northeastern State will play for the series sweep on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch scheduled.