TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Rogers State baseball team allowed 12 hits to the Northeastern State RiverHawks resulting in a 10-3 Hillcat defeat Tuesday afternoon at Rousey Field.
RSU used eight pitchers in the nine inning affair as the Hillcat offense was able to plate just three runs on seven hits in the non-conference contest.
Starting pitcher Casey Cassity allowed five earned runs on seven hits in the opening 1.2 innings for the Hillcats. The RiverHawks plated two runs in the first inning on a double to centerfield by Chris Gallegos to put NSU up 2-0. NSU plated another three runs in the second inning on a Chad Davidson two RBI single to left field. Davidson eventually scored on a single by Kegan Knight to give the RiverHawks a 5-0 advantage.
The Diamond Cats answered in the third with a run as Colton Campbell singled to right scoring Emmanuel De La Cruz from third to trim the NSU lead to 5-1.
In the visitor half of the fifth the Cats claimed another two runs as Eric Baker doubled to right field scoring De La Cruz and cutting the deficit to three runs. But the Hillcats weren't finished in the fifth inning as Campbell hit an RBI single to right scoring Baker and putting RSU behind 5-3.
But the host RiverHawks responded big in the fifth with the help of RSU. Pitcher Freddy Soto gave up a pair of singles and another runner reached on a fielding error by the Cats first baseman to lead off the bottom of the inning. Soto issued a walk to Trent Wilkins to score one run and the RiverHawks scored a pair of runs on consecutive wild pitches to jump ahead 8-3. A sac-fly by Brandon Espinal gave NSU its fourth run of the afternoon and the 9-3 lead.
NSU added another insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Dan Skelly tripled to lead off the inning and scored two at-bats later on a single by Espinal.
Eric Baker led the Hillcats going 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI while outfield mate Colton Cambpell went 2-for-4 with two RBI as the duo combined to bat in all three RSU runs.
Cassity (2-1) received the loss for the Hillcats. Cody Honea recorded the win for the RiverHawks giving up three runs, one earned, on seven hits in 6.2 innings while fanning seven.
Rogers State (32-12) will return to conference play on Thursday at the Hillcat Complex as they host Southern Nazarene. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and will be carried on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
