CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State Baseball picked up a split with Oklahoma Christian on Saturday to open the final regular season series of the season. The Hillcats won game one 4-0 before falling 8-6 in game two.
With the win in game one, the Hillcats assured themselves of a postseason spot and a top three seed in the Heartland Conference next weekend.
Corey Murphy tossed a complete game shutout in game one to propel the Hillcats to victory. Murphy scattered nine hits and a walk, while striking out four batters for his ninth win of the season.
The Hillcats took the lead in game one in the fourth inning with a squeeze play executed to perfection as
Zack Mann bunted allowing Griffith to score. In the next at bat,
Grant Farris doubled down the left field line to score
Christian Merriwether, as the Hillcats went up 2-0.
Farris would double the Hillcats lead in the sixth inning. After Mann reached on a single, Farris hit a two-run home run to right center as Rogers State went ahead 4-0.
In game two the Hillcats took an early lead in a game that saw 12 of 14 runs scored in the last four innings.
Farris singled home Merriwether for the first run in the bottom of the first. Farris then scored on a
Nick Follett single in the third inning as RSU went up 2-0.
Jackson Simonsgaard tossed the first five innings, allowing just three hits with a walk and five strikeouts on 96 pitches.
The Hillcats added two more runs in the sixth with a run by
Brendan Griffith on a wild pitch and then a single by
Christopher Ford to score
Blake Chiaramonte.
However, the Eagles would respond with five runs off relief pitch in the seventh inning to take the lead.
Rogers State responded in the bottom of the seventh as Chiaramonte doubled home Griffith, but Oklahoma Christian would answer back with a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth.
The Hillcats would score one in the ninth after a wild pitch with the bases loaded, but RSU would strand the tying run at second.
The two teams will meet in the series finale on Sunday. A win for the Hillcats will eliminate Oklahoma Christian from postseason play and secure the No. 2 seed in next week's tournament. First pitch for the regular season finale is set for 1 p.m. at the Diamond Sports Complex.
