CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State baseball team rallied with a late run in the eighth inning for a 10-9 win in game two of a doubleheader against conference-leading UA Fort Smith for a doubleheader split on Saturday (April 14) at the Diamond Sports Complex. Zack Mann tied the school record for most hits in a game, going a perfect 5-for-5 in the game two victory. The Hillcats dropped game one by a 4-1 margin.
 
The Hillcats moved to 20-16 on the season and 6-8 in league play, while UAFS went to 25-10 and 10-4 in the Heartland.
 
RSU 10, UAFS 9
 
With the scores tied at 9-9 in the eighth inning, Brooks Douglass hit a bunt single and a rushed throw from UAFS was wide to allow Brendan Griffith to score from third for a 10-9 advantage.
 
Trailing 9-6, the Hillcats drove in the final four runs to rally for the victory and a split in the doubleheader. Mann started the surge with an RBI single up the middle to score Bradley Degnan in the fourth inning for a 9-7 score. Mann evened the score at 9-9 in the fifth inning with a double down the line to bring home Dylan Russell and Matt Seubert.
 
In the high scoring affair, the two teams combined for eight runs in the first inning. The Lions went up 3-0 in the first on a double to the gap and a two-run homer.
 
RSU poured on five runs in its half of the first inning. Griffith started the spurt with a single to right for a 3-1 margin. Patrick Reynier singled to drive in two runs to knot the score at 3-3. Derek Brumble put the Cats up 4-3 with a double to left. The final run of the inning scored on a single by Seubert to bring in Brumble to make it 5-3.
 
The second inning saw UAFS tally five runs to go up 8-5. After a wild pitch allowed the first run of the inning to come home, a double to down the line plated two runs and a single to left added two more runs for the 8-5 mark.
 
The navy and red got one run in the bottom of the second on a Griffith single, and the Lions went in front 9-6 in the third on a double to center before the RSU rally.
 
Mann tied the school record for hits in a game, going 5-for-5 with three RBI and one run scored. He tied the record with All-American Chris Miguel at five hits in one game. Griffith went 3-for-5 with two RBI as the navy and red posted 16 hits.
 
RSU used five pitchers in the nine-inning nightcap. Sean Robinson came in for relief and pitched 4.1 innings to help RSU stay in the game, and Brock Knoten earned the win as he pitched the final 2.1 innings with only one hit allowed.
 
UAFS 4, RSU 1
 
The Lions plated the first three runs of game one, including one run to start the contest in the first inning, en route to a 4-1 victory to open the doubleheader.
 
A sacrifice fly in the first inning put UAFS in front 1-0. The Lions tallied two more runs in the fifth inning to go up 3-0 on an RBI triple after a triple earlier in the frame put a runner at third. The final run of the inning scored due to an error for the 3-0 advantage.
 
Degnan drove in RSU's only run of the game with a triple in the bottom of the fifth to bring in Seubert to make it 3-1.
 
In the seventh inning, Jace Pitchford of UAFS knocked out a solo home run to left for the final 4-1 score.
 
Senior Tim Luce started in game one, going the complete 7.0 innings. He totaled eight strikeouts with three earned runs allowed and 10 hits.
 
UAFS's Javon Rigsby pitched a complete 7.0 innings for the Lions, earning the win with one run and six hits allowed. Rigsby registered seven strikeouts and improved to 4-2 on the season.
 
The four-game series concludes on Sunday (April 15) at 1 p.m. at the Diamond Sports Complex. Coverage will be available on the Hillcat Network.