The Northwest Missouri State baseball team split a road doubleheader with Cameron University on Friday afternoon at McCord Field in Lawton, Okla. The Bearcats fell in the first game, 5-0, but rebounded to win the nightcap, 8-4. Northwest is an even 2-2 on the year and the Aggies move to 4-4 overall. The first game was a seven-inning game and the second contest was nine innings.

Game one

The Bearcats got a first inning hit from Ryan Abernathy but were unable to figure out the Aggie pitching combination of Drew Reidt and Jacob Winters, falling 5-0. Northwest had four errors in the contest.

Rob Henrichs started on the mound and pitched four innings, giving up five runs on six hits. Only one of the runs was earned. Cameron scored one unearned run in the first, followed by a pair in the second and third innings.

Game two

Northwest picked up a first-inning run as Eric McGlauflin singled in Abernathy who had a two-out double. In the second, Austin Wulf scored on a Zack Ferreira single after reaching on an error to begin the inning.

The Bearcats broke it open in the third inning, scoring three runs on a two-out, bases loaded double by Steve Garber. After Cameron added a run in the bottom of the inning, Northwest scored another run in the top of the fourth as Jon Pomatto hit the Bearcats’ first home run of the year. In the sixth, Ferreira doubled to begin the inning and scored on an error. Pomatto, who singled after Ferreira, scored on a wild pitch to give Northwest an 8-3 lead.

Pomatto, Wulf and Abernathy each scored two runs for Northwest. Garber had three RBI while Huske, McGlauflin, Ferreira and Pomatto each had multi-hit games.

Kole Klocko started the game and went 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Blane Reutter picked up the win, pitching 4.2 innings in relief, allowing one run on three hits. Brian Schmiedt pitched a perfect ninth, striking out the side.

Up next, Northwest will play another doubleheader tomorrow against Cameron,starting at noon. The games will again be a seven-inning game followed by anine-inning contest.

— Northwest Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State softball team opened its season at the Arkansas-Monticello 8-State Classic Friday where the Bearcats fell to Arkansas Tech., 9-4, in game one and SW Oklahoma St. in game two, 4-0.

Arkansas Tech took an early lead going up 5-0 in the top of the second inning.

Northwest was able to get on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Baylee Scarbrough singled in Paige Orwig from second.

Chantel Adams and Kailee Sherer both crossed home plate in the fifth inning to bring the Bearcats within two, down 5-3.

ATU pushed four runs across in the top of the sixth inning while Northwest was only able to answer with one run the rest of the way out as they fell, 9-4.Sarah Baldwin was tagged with the loss in game one.

Abbie Vitosh took the circle in game two for the Bearcats. Vitosh gave up four runs in the first inning and then proceeded to shut down the SWOSU offense holding them to three hits in seven innings.

The offense was shutout for Northwest as they struggled, leaving seven runners on base in the game.

Adams went 2 for 3 in game two after going 2 for 2 in game one.

Vitosh went the distance earning the complete game while taking her first loss of the season.

The Bearcats will turn around and play Saturday as they take on Harding in game one with first pitch scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Northwest will take on Illinois-Springfield in game two, which is slated to start at 11:30 am.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team stayed in the locker room at halftime until about 30 seconds remained.

Coach Ben McCollum had plenty to say to his first-place Bearcats, who faced a 14-point deficit at Missouri Southern.

The Bearcats came out with renewed energy and quickly closed to seven points before the first media timeout. In fact, Southern was forced to call a timeout to stem the momentum the Bearcats were riding.

Ultimately, Wednesday evening belonged to Southern. Northwest saw its 10-game winning streak end with an 82-68 loss at Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

“They came out ready to play,” said Northwest senior DeShaun Cooper, who finished with 22 points. “We came out lackadaisical and weren’t ready at all. They just outplayed us, out toughed us. They were the better team today as you can tell by the score.”

However, Northwest, 18-6 overall, remains in first place in the MIAA with an impressive 13-2 record. It was the Bearcats first road loss in conference play.

Northwest has a week to prepare for its next game, a home contest against Lindenwood on Feb. 19.

“We have to get each other tougher and come at each other tomorrow and man-up,” Cooper said.

The Bearcats showed plenty of fight early in the second half after Southern opened with a three-pointer that increased its lead to 43-26.

Northwest went on a 10-0 run, getting six points from center Dillon Starzl. The Bearcats were back in the game, trailing 43-36.

“We needed to look inside ourselves and toughen up, which we did at the start of the second half,” said Starzl, who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. “I thought we were making a good push and then it went down again.

“And then we stopped getting stops. We stopped getting offensive rebounds. We stopped boxing out on the defensive end. They got a lot of offensive rebounds and put backs. That’s why we lost the game.”

Southern, which improved to 16-5 and 10-4, showed the poise of a team fighting for one of the top four seeds in the conference tournament.

A long three-pointer by Austin Wright pushed the Lions lead to 46-36. Northwest answered with a three-pointer from freshman Zach Schneider.

The Bearcats just couldn’t generate enough offense to keep pace with Southern. Back-to-back three-point plays from Lane Barlow and Marquis Addison gave Southern a 52-39 lead.

Northwest faced a double-digit deficit the rest of the way. The dagger came with 7:05 left when Addison hit a three-pointer for a 61-45 lead for the Lions. Twenty seconds later, Addison added a field goal, making it 63-45.

Northwest played one of those first halves when very little went right as the 40-26 halftime deficit proved.

“At the beginning of the game, we were not focused,” Starzl said. “I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if we were scared of Southern because we knew they were going to come out ready for us because we beat them at home.”

The shooting stats bear out the one-sided nature of the first half. The Bearcats made only nine of 29 from the field for 31 percent compared to 53 percent for Southern.

The only lead Northwest held in the game was 2-0. Southern, though, quickly built a 14-5 lead and maintained control throughout the first half.

Only Cooper found some success for Northwest in the first half. He was 3-for-5 from the field and scored seven points in the first half. But Cooper picked up his third foul with 6 seconds left in the first half, putting him in a bind for the second half.

Nobody else for the Bearcats made more than one field goal.

— Northwest Sports Information —