TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Rogers State baseball team scored the game-winning run in the 11th inning to defeat rival Northeastern State, 5-4, on Wednesday (Feb. 15) at Rousey Field.
Brooks Douglass brought in the winning run with a double to right field to score
Cale Backward in the 11th inning. After a hit by pitch, closer
Rusty Huber posted three straight outs to lift the Cats to the 5-4 victory.
The Hillcats took advantage of early NSU miscues to build a 3-0 advantage after four innings. A fielding error by the RiverHawks allowed
Derek Brumble to come home for a 1-0 score in the third inning. The navy and red added one more run in the inning on a
Matt Seubert single, scoring Douglass. In the fourth inning,
Jason Marley made it 3-0 for RSU as he scored due to another NSU error.
The RiverHawks totaled four errors in the contest, all in the first six innings.
With runners at the corners, NSU got on the scoreboard with a run-scoring fielder's choice in the fifth. After loading the bases in the sixth, the RiverHawks scored only one run due to a double play by the Hillcats, keeping NSU down by one at 3-2.
Bradley Degnan upped the RSU advantage back to two with a single to left center to score Douglas for a 4-2 edge in the seventh inning.
NSU forced extra innings with runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings to tie the score at 4-4. A single up the middle in the seventh started the scoring, and a solo home run in the eighth evened the score.
Seubert went 2-for-6 with one RBI. The Hillcats totaled five hits in the game.
Tim Luce started for RSU, going 5.0 innings and allowed four hits with one run.
Rusty Huber came in to pitch the final 3.0 innings, getting the win. The senior closer totaled three strikeouts with only one hit.
Landon Nealon and
Justin Magstadt also pitched in relief.
The Hillcats take this weekend off and then host the RiverHawks next Tuesday (Feb. 21) at 1 p.m. at the Diamond Sports Complex. Video, audio and live stat coverage will be available on the Hillcat Network at
www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
