CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State baseball team dropped two games on Saturday to Newman to split a four-game weekend series at the Diamond Sports Complex. The Jets took game one, 2-1, and won the nightcap by a 9-6 margin. RSU fell to 14-8 on the season.
 
Newman 2, RSU 1
 
The Jets (8-14) went in front 2-0 early in the fourth inning and hung on for a 2-1 victory in game one of the Saturday twinbill.
 
Daniel Jahnke of Newman singled to right to make it 1-0, and a groundout in the fourth inning plated the game-winning run for a 2-0 score.
 
The Hillcats posted their only run of game one in the bottom of the fourth inning when Zack Mann hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Derek Brumble for a 2-1 margin. The navy and red started the inning with back-to-back hits by Brumble and Brendan Griffith to put runners at first and second. A walk loaded the bases with only one out to set up the sac fly.
 
RSU finished the game with 12 runners left on base in the seven-inning contest and had runners in scoring position in the first six innings of the game, including loading the bases in the third and fourth innings
 
Mann went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Brumble was 2-for-4 with one run scored.
 
Tim Luce started and went the full 7.0 innings pitching for RSU. He registered six strikeouts and allowed two runs and seven hits.
 
Newman combined to use four pitchers to earn the victory. Josh Mapel got the win in 2.2 innings of relief with Collin Loutensock picking up the save in 2.2 innings to close the game.
 
Newman 9, RSU 6
 
In game two, the Jets jumped on the Cats early to build a 7-0 lead in the first three innings and held on for the 9-6 win to sweep the doubleheader on Saturday.
 
Newman doubled down the line for the first run in the first inning and an RBI groundout upped the edge to 2-0 after one inning.
 
The Jets plated three runs in the second to go in front 5-0. After a single to score one run, a groundout added another tally for a 4-0 score and a bases-loaded walk made it 5-0.
 
A two-RBI double in the third inning increased the NU advantage to 7-0.
 
The Cats responded with three runs in each of the third and fourth innings to pull to within one run at 7-6. Matt Seubert started the RSU scoring with a double to the gap in right, and Blake Chiaramonte singled through the infield to drive in two runs for a 7-3 deficit after three innings.
 
In the fourth inning, Chris Nakashima brought two runs home with a single to right, and Christopher Ford made it a one run game with an RBI on a fielder's choice for the 7-6 margin.
 
Newman added two late runs via an error and a sacrifice fly for the 9-6 final score.
 
RSU had an opportunity in the eighth inning, loading the bases with one out, but Newman reliever Trey Tucker came in to get a strikeout and a fly out to end the Hillcat threat. Tucker closed out the game in the ninth inning to earn the save.
 
Sean Robinson started for RSU, going 1.1 innings. Landon Nealon, Preston Whitten, Joey Lucas and Brock Knoten all came in to pitch for the navy and red.
 
Nakashima finished at 1-for-3 with two RBI at the plate. Grant Farris was 2-for-5.
 
The Hillcats start Heartland Conference play at St. Mary's next week on Thursday and Friday at Dickson Stadium in San Antonio, Texas. The four-game series starts on Thursday at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader. The final two games are on Friday at 1 p.m. Live stats and video streaming will be available.