CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State baseball team swept Newman by the scores of 4-1 and 9-1 to take two games of a Heartland Conference doubleheader on Friday (April 7) at the Diamond Sports Complex. With the wins, the Hillcats extended their winning streak to eight games, moving to 25-10 on the season.
 
Rogers State 4, Newman 1
 
The Hillcats (25-10, 9-5 Heartland) used four early runs en route to a 4-1 victory in game one of the doubleheader against the Jets.
 
Jason Marley hit a three-run home run for three of the four RSU runs. After Sam Davison and Chris Miguel tallied base hits, Marley knocked the homer to left field to give the Cats a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
 
The navy and red upped the advantage to 4-0 in the second inning on an RBI single from Bradley Degnan. Sam Casinelli hit an infield single to start the inning, and Davison singled to left to put two on before Degnan plated Casinelli with the single to right field for the 4-0 score.
 
NU scored its one run on a single up the middle in the fourth inning for the 4-1 margin.
 
Tim Luce moved to 5-3 on the season as he allowed only three hits in 5.2 innings of work. The junior from Claremore kept the Jets hitless until the fourth inning and finished with three strikeouts. Justin Magstadt pitched a third of an inning, and Rusty Huber closed out the game, going the seventh inning. The senior earned his ninth save of the season and his 21st in his career in the navy and red.
 
Davison finished 3-for-4 at the plate with one run scored. Casinelli was 2-for-3.
 
Rogers State 9, Newman 1
 
RSU plated early runs and then poured on six late runs to cruise to a 9-1 victory in the nightcap.
 
Spencer Bivens pitched impressively in 7.1 innings of work, allowing only three hits and a run. The junior from State College, Pa. totaled five strikeouts and moved to 7-1 on the season.
 
The Cats started with runs in each of the first and second innings. Marley singled up the middle in the first to score Davison, who reached on a walk and advanced into scoring position after another walk by Degnan.
 
In the second inning, Brooks Douglass scored as Casinelli got in a run down between first and second. Douglass, who singled to start the inning, scored from third on the play for a 2-0 edge.
 
Davison upped the advantage to 3-0 in the sixth inning with a single to score Matt Seubert.
 
The Hillcats poured on the runs in the seventh inning with five to build an 8-0 lead. Garrett Hall started the RSU scoring with an RBI single to plate Marley. Seubert drove in two runs with a single to score Hall and Ismael Orozco for a 6-0 margin. An error by the Jets allowed two Cats to score in the inning for an 8-0 advantage.
 
NU scored its only run of game two on a fielder's choice for an 8-1 score in the eighth inning.
 
In their half of the eighth, the Cats added one run on an RBI groundout from Hall for the final 9-1 margin.
 
The navy and red totaled 12 hits in game two. Marley posted a 3-for-5 performance at the plate.
 
The finale of the three-game series starts tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Diamond Sports Complex. Coverage will be available on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.