TAHLEQUAH – The Northeastern State baseball team will wrap up their five-game homestand on Tuesday afternoon when they host Southeastern Oklahoma at Rousey Field.
Opening Pitch
1. The RiverHawks will look to get back to the .500 mark on Tuesday after losing two out of three to Pittsburg State over the weekend. They took game one of the series 5-3, in a game where
Jonathan Smithey got the start and went seven and two-thirds of an inning, recording eight strikeouts and picking up the win.
2. Despite seeing his record 26-game hit streak come to an end on Friday,
Blake Freeman leads the NSU offense, batting .362 on the season with 13 runs batted in.
Collin Klingensmith leads the team with four home runs, while
Dylan Hight has gone deep three times. Smithey has been the ace for NSU, making five starts with an ERA of 3.03. In 29.2 innings pitched, he has 33 strikeouts, with opponents' batting .211 against him.
Nic Swanson has made six appearances on the mound, allowing no earned runs in 7.1 innings pitched.
3. This will be a rematch between the RiverHawks and Savage Storm, as they played each other earlier this season in a four-game series, in which Southeastern won three out of the four games. The lone NSU win came in game one of a doubleheader, when Klingensmith went 3-4 with three RBI while
Cal Howard threw three relief innings to lead the NSU to a 10-6 win.
4. Southeastern Oklahoma is coming off a GAC doubleheader against Harding where they took the first game 5-4 in 11 innings before dropping the nightcap 3-1 to the Bison. This will be the final game of their four-game road trip, as they will host Arkansas-Monticello this weekend.
5. Colton Buckner has been the star of the Savage Storm offense, batting .392 on the season with four home runs and 18 runs batted in. His four home runs are second on the team behind Richard Ware, who has six home runs and six doubles. Jacob Potter has been the top pitcher for Southeastern, making six starts this season, with an ERA of 2.70 and 32 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched. Jason Porter has been effective in relief, making seven appearances with just one earned run in 7.1 innings pitched.
Up Next: NSU will embark on a four-game road trip, starting Friday when they take on the Newman Jets in game one of a three-game series.
