CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State baseball team opened a three-game series against College of the Ozarks with a 3-0, two-hit shutout Friday afternoon at the Diamond Sports Complex.
 
Three Hillcat pitchers combined to keep the Bobcats off the scoreboard as starter Blake Roley did not allow a hit in seven innings of work before relievers Justin Magstadt and Rusty Huber finished off the victory.
 
Zack Ashford tallied a game-high two hits, including the eventual game-winning RBI single in the fourth, where RSU scored all its runs.
 
Roley ran into trouble issuing a pair of walks to open the game, but escaped the jam by striking out a pair after a sacrifice bunt. Roley settled into the game retiring the Bobcats in order in the second and third and kept two runners in scoring position from crossing home in the fourth as the visitors stranded 12 in the game.
 
The Hillcats turned the tides in the bottom of the fourth taking advantage of two Ozark errors to plate three runs. Ismael Orozco reached base on a third-strike error to start the frame and Garrett Hall moved him to third on a single. Ashford delivered an RBI single through the left side of the infield for the first run of the contest and later scored on a throwing error that brought two runs home for a 3-0 edge.
 
The Bobcats tallied their first hit of the afternoon in the top of the eighth off Magstadt. The junior retired the first batter before back-to-back singles put runners on base. J.D. Chadwell followed by drawing a walk to load the bases, and nearly tied the game as he sent a ball over the fence in left that sailed just foul. Huber, the RSU closer, came into the game and pitched the Hillcats out of the inning, stranding all three runners holding the three-run lead intact.
 
Huber made an acrobatic play for the second out of the ninth inning, sliding and spinning to throw out Jacob Karlson on a slow roller towards second base. The junior forced a groundout to preserve the third shutout of the season for RSU, 3-0.
 
Cesar Rodriguez posted the only extra-base hit of the day with a double in the seventh. Roley moved to a perfect 4-0 this year striking out three in seven innings, while Huber picked up his third save in as many tries.
 
The Hillcats (12-3 overall) close the weekend series with the Bobcats Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader at the Diamond Sports Complex. Game one is slated for a 1 p.m. start and can be caught live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live or on the airwaves of RSU Radio 91.3FM.