BOLIVAR, Missouri – The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team recorded a doubleheader sweep of Southwest Baptist on Thursday.
Northwest rallied for wins in both contests. The Bearcats overcame a 6-0 deficit in the opener to score a 9-8 victory. Northwest trailed 7-4 in the nightcap when Enrique Gonzalez came through with a pinch-hit, two-out, grand slam to propel the Bearcats to an 8-7 win.
Northwest moved to 8-10 overall and 4-4 in MIAA conference play, while Southwest Baptist fell to 8-9 overall and 3-5 in the MIAA.
Game 1
Southwest Baptist bolted to a 6-0 lead through two innings of play with one in the first and five in the second.
Northwest hitters answered with one run in the top of the third, initiated by a one out single by sophomore infielder Matt Gastner. Senior infielder Logan Rycraft doubled to left field, advancing Gastner to third base. A sacrifice fly hit by senior infielder Mondesi Gutierrez scored Gastner to get the Bearcats on the board.
Southwest Baptist increased its lead back to six runs after putting another run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth.
During the top of the fifth is when the spectators saw the Northwest bats come to life. The Bearcats tallied six runs on four hits while leaving the bases loaded during the inning to claw back even at 7-7. Small ball was the name of the game for Northwest in the inning to advance runners around the bases and drive in runs. Six different Northwest hitters drove in runs.
The Bearcats added another two runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead, 9-7. Northwest scored two runs on three hits and left two on base during the top half of the inning.
Southwest Baptist attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring a run but wasn’t enough to take the lead away from Northwest.
Junior Quintin Van Ackeren got the start on the mound for the Bearcats, pitching three and 2/3 innings allowing eight hits and seven runs (six earned) while striking out two. Freshman pitcher Max Ross came in for relief, pitching three and a third scoreless inning and allowing only two hits as he picked up the victory. Senior Trevor Dudar closed the game for Northwest, allowing two hits and one earned run, as he tallied his second save of the season.
Game 2
After a quiet first two innings, Northwest was first on the scoreboard scoring one run in the top of the third. Junior infielder Calvin Rudolph led off the inning reaching on a fielding error. Rudolph was then advanced to third by Gastner, who singled to right field. Rudolph scored on a Rycraft sacrifice fly to right.
After holding Southwest Baptist scoreless in the bottom of the third, Northwest added another three runs to increase its lead to 4-0.
Southwest Baptist combined to score seven runs in the home half of the fourth and fifth innings to take the 7-4 lead over Northwest.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the eighth, head coach Darin Loe inserted pinch hitter Enrique Gonzales. Gonzalez delivered as he crushed a grand slam to left field that gave Northwest an 8-7 advantage.
Freshman righty Gibson Brown came on in relief of starter Joe Funkhouser in the fifth. Brown pitched four innings of relief and allowed four hits and two earned runs. Brown got the victory to improve to 2-0 on the year.
Dudar came into the game in the ninth and locked down his second save of the day. Dudar struck out two as he retired the SBU batters in order in the ninth.
Northwest will be back in action Friday at Dodson Field for game three of this MIAA matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
— Northwest Athletics —