TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State ends their homestand by hosting Northwestern Oklahoma on Tuesday before playing their final MIAA road games of the regular season in Maryville, Mo. at Northwest Missouri.

The team is in search of a rebound after being held without a victory in last week's games.

The Setup
- Northeastern State baseball is guided by head coach Sunny Golloway. Golloway was hired last summer after spending a season in the same position at East Central. He brings decades of experience at the Division I level to Tahlequah, also leading teams at Oral Roberts (1996-2003), Oklahoma (2005-13) and Auburn (2014-15). Golloway-led teams have appeared in 15 NCAA Regionals and four Super Regionals, while he led the Sooners to an appearance in the 2010 College World Series.
- NSU entered the season two removed from one of their best in program history, where the RiverHawks won 38 games and made the Central Regional in 2022. The RiverHawks were only a couple wins shy of returning last season, as one of the last three teams remaining in the MIAA tournament as part of a 25-win effort in 2023.
- The penultimate non-conference game is played this week at Rousey, while the team continues their 33-game MIAA schedule with this weekend's series.

Around the Diamond
- The RiverHawks rank seventh in the MIAA after last week's action, two games back from sixth-place Rogers State (12-15). At 10-17 in conference ball, they sit one game above the cut-line, sees four teams in a tie for eighth at 9-18. 
- Gage Williams has continued to be a tough out throughout league play, as he homered last weekend against Missouri Southern and extend his streak of reaching base to ten games, the best on the team.
- Matt Kaiser has provided consistency of late in the lineup, as the center fielder owns the longest active hitting streak at seven games, four that were against ranked teams. In his last five, he has finished with two base hits, the longest multi-hit streak of any NSU player this season.
- Base hits were not at a premium last weekend, as the team secured at least eight in every encounter against MSSU, but scoring plays were for most of the three-game series, as the team was limited to a run apiece in game one and three. 
- Cole White was one of the team's top arms last week, pitching four shutout innings in a solid five-inning start against Central Oklahoma last Tuesday before finishing the last 3.2 innings of Sunday's finale against Missouri Southern. White struck out seven batters across his time in action last week.

Northeastern State vs. Northwestern Oklahoma (Apr. 16 at 2 p.m.) // Live Coverage 

About Northwestern Oklahoma (27-15, 17-10 GAC)
- The Rangers are seeking a return to form after dropping three of four games last week in Great American Conference (GAC) action. The team is two games back from first place in the conference entering the season's closing weeks.
- Ryan Bowen is in his seventh season leading the program, which has seen the former Lone Star Conference All-League selection receive a GAC Coach of the Year nod in 2021 after taking the team to their first postseason as NCAA members.
- Hitting .304 as a team, the offense has been highlighted by a strong campaign from Dylan Bradford (.391, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 12 SB). A trio of power threats also loom as impact players in Carson Wright, Hagen Barcello and Colby Grace, who have tied for the team lead at 11 home runs apiece. 
- The pitching staff has thrown a 5.55 earned run average this year, striking out 287 batters and having opponents at a .283 batting average. 

Series Notes
- Northeastern State leads the all-time series, 16-15.
- Northwestern Oklahoma claimed last season's meeting in a commanding 20-4 seven-inning game.
- The series has its roots planted all the way back in 1948, though many of the chapters have been written since 2016, which has seen the teams clash as non-conference foes 11 times in that span.

Northeastern State at Northwest Missouri (Apr. 19 at 3 p.m., Apr. 20 at 2 p.m., Apr. 21 at 1 p.m.) // Live Coverage

About Northwest Missouri (17-25, 9-18 MIAA)
- The Bearcats are on the postseason bubble, involved in a four-way tie for eighth place and the last spot in the league bracket at 9-18 in conference action.
- NWMSU has lost six straight, most recently dropping three to Newman last week.
- Darin Loe has been the leader of Northwest Missouri baseball since 2000 and is the program's all-time wins leader. Under his watch, the team earned their first MIAA title since 1983 with their 2018 regular season crown. Loe will retire at season's end.
- The team places seventh in batting average (.295) in the conference with 44 home runs (sixth). The pitching staff is eighth in earned run average (7.32), but are in the league's top three in strikeouts (332). 

Series Notes
- Northeastern State holds the lead in the series, 24-18.
- The RiverHawks won last season's series by taking two out of three games, including a 5-4 walk-off win in Broken Arrow, Okla.
- Darin Loe has been the only Northwest Missouri skipper to battle Northeastern State, as the series dates back to the second year of his tenure in 2001.
 
Coming Up
Northeastern State ends the regular season with home dates against Oklahoma Baptist (Apr. 23) and Washburn (Apr. 26-28).