CLAREMORE, Okla. - Rogers State baseball (13-2, 4-0 MIAA) trailed 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning but came all the way back to down Newman (5-12, 1-6 MIAA) 5-4 Friday afternoon at the RCB Bank Sports Complex.
 
"All wins in this conference are hard to get, but we sure snatched victory from the jaws of defeat today," said head coach Chris Klimas. "We did not play our best and put ourselves in a hole. Give credit to our guys for finding ways to win games and never quitting. When you trail 4-0, it would have been easy to call it quits, but we kept chipping away and did enough to find a way to win."
 
Newman scored a run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. The game devolved into a pitchers' duel until the top of the fifth inning when Newman scored two runs. The Jets added another run in the top of the seventh inning.
 
RSU finally got going in the bottom of the seventh inning when Weston Peninger and Carson Cheatwood hit back-to-back bombs. Andrew Ramirez drove in Luis Fuentes with a sacrifice fly to center, making it a one-run ball game at 4-3 to cap off the frame.
 
After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the top of the ninth, the Hillcats loaded them up in the home half with one out. On a 2-2 count, Geovanni Blackshaw wore a pitch that allowed Fuentes to cross for the tying run. On the first pitch he saw, Jackson Romero laced a walk-off single to center field, plating Andres Conteras for the 5-4 victory.
 
Landon Riley (2-1) earned the win, working a scoreless ninth inning in relief with two strikeouts. Colby Wilson (2-1) suffered the loss.
 
The Hillcats look to clinch the series in game two tomorrow. First pitch has been moved up to 12 p.m. from the original 1 p.m. start time to avoid potential inclement weather later in the day.