TAHLEQUAH – The RiverHawks baseball team will look to get back on track this week when they travel to Wichita, Kan. for three MIAA games against the Newman Jets. The teams will play a 9-inning game Thursday at 3 p.m. before playing a doubleheader starting Friday at noon.
OPENING PITCH
1. NSU brings a 9-11 record into the series, and will look to snap a three-game losing streak. They are coming off a thriller against Southeastern Oklahoma where they went from being down 11-0 in the seventh to having the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning.
2. The comeback started in the seventh, when NSU hung six runs on the Savage Storm, with the majority of the offense coming with two outs. After scoring one in the eighth, Northeastern State would load the bases in the ninth and bring the winning run to the plate, but were unable to finish their comeback.
3.
Blake Freeman leads the RiverHawks with a .378 batting average and 14 RBI.
Chaz Orr is batting .378 this season with 16 RBI while
Reid Fehr is batting .300.
Collin Klingensmith leads the team in home runs with four, while
Dylan Hight has three homers on the season.
Jonathan Smithey has been the top pitcher for NSU, having made five starts. He has a record of 3-2 with an ERA of 3.03 in 29.2 innings pitched and has struck out 33 batters.
Nic Swanson has made seven relief appearances, recording two saves and nine strikeouts in 8.1 innings pitched. Head coach
Jake Hendrick, who is in his fifth season, is two wins away from having 100 wins at NSU.
4. The Jets enter the series with a record of 6-15 on the season and are 1-5 in conference action after being swept by Central Missouri over the weekend. They will face Southern Nazarene on Wednesday afternoon before taking on NSU. Newman is led by Devin Beard, who is batting .338 this season, with a team-high four home runs and 14 RBI. Beard is one of three Jets who are above the .300 mark along with Dalton Dinkel (.329) and Kyle Kock (.317). On the mound, Ryan Boaz leads the Jets, having made five starts, with an ERA of 5.30 and 25 strikeouts in 35.2 innings pitched.
Up Next: The RiverHawks will take on Central Oklahoma in Edmond Tuesday evening before returning to Rousey Field to face Washburn.
