CLAREMORE, Okla.- The Rogers State baseball team fell to the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm, 14-9, at the Diamond Sports Complex Tuesday. RSU could not pull out the victory in a back-and-forth game that saw 31 hits between the two teams.
Southern Nazarene plated the first four runs of the game in the first with a single and a walk followed by a two-RBI single by Chance San Miguel. Two more runs came across on an RBI single by Michael Descisciolo and an infield fly scoring Kyle Fultz.
In the third frame, the Crimson Storm extended their lead to 6-0 behind two singles to start the inning. A double to right center from Descisciolo scored both runners.
The Hillcats battled right back with two runs of their own in the third. Alex Cochran led the inning with a triple to right center. Chase Knott then walked, allowing Caleb Kohlmeyer to hit a two-run double to deep into the gap in right center.
SNU scored twice in the fourth and one in the fifth with four hits and a costly RSU error as the margin swelled to 9-3.
RSU chipped away posting a run in the fourth thanks to back-to-back hits by Austin Culwell and Joe Crow, followed by a groundout by Cochran scoring Culwell. The fifth favored a similar result with the Hillcats plating two runs. Ryan Hendricks singled home Kohlmeyer, who started the inning reaching on an error. Culwell kept things going with a single to center scoring Hendricks as they cut the deficit to 9-5.
After the Crimson Storm increased its lead behind a two-run triple off the bat of Riley Morrow in the sixth, RSU scratched across two runs in the seventh from a Johan Ochoa single, followed by a full-count walk to Logan Palmer. Hamilton Hernandez then doubled to left center scoring Ochoa, bringing up Cochran who grounded out scoring Palmer.
SNU scored three more in the ninth to increase its advantage, 14-7, until RSU dented the scoreboard one last time with two in the ninth, before falling 14-9.
Collin Thomas was chased in the first inning allowing four runs, two earned. Nine other pitchers saw the mound for the Hillcats in a game that lasted three hours and thirty-one minutes with twenty-three runs tallied between the two teams.
Rogers State (13-21 overall) will return to action Friday beginning a Heartland Conference doubleheader against Oklahoma Panhandle State at the Diamond Sports Complex. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
