CLAREMORE, Okla. – No. 7 Rogers State baseball (33-6, 21-4 MIAA) faced No. 23 Northwest Missouri State (27-12, 17-8 MIAA) in a doubleheader Saturday at RCB Bank Sports Complex, securing the series victory with final scores of 6-5 and 14-6.
 
GAME 1: RSU 6, NWMSU 5
Senior Dillon Dibrell (5-1) made his seventh start for the Hillcats on Saturday. The left-handed pitcher faced 24 batters over 5.0 innings, recording three strikeouts and five groundouts while allowing seven hits, one walk and one hit by pitch.

Northwest Missouri State opened the scoring with a run after Frank Gall was hit by a pitch and later drove in on an RBI single. The Hillcats answered in the second inning, as singles by Andres Contreras and Nathan Gutierrez and a walk to Jake Mitchell loaded the bases. Groundouts by Gavin Gamino and Blake Conrad, along with an RBI single from Luis Fuentes, brought in three runs for the Hillcats.
The Hillcats secured the win with RBI doubles from Conrad and Sammy Harris, along with a sacrifice bunt from Mitchell, outscoring the Bearcats 6-5.
Ricardo Landeros pitched 4.0 innings in relief for the Hillcats. The right-hander mirrored Dibrell with three strikeouts and seven flyouts, adding two groundouts while allowing five hits.
 
GAME TWO: RSU 14, NWMSU 6
Spencer Hatch (4-2) made his seventh start in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader. The senior threw 62 pitches over 2.2 innings, recording eight outs while allowing three hits and two walks.

The Hillcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Nathan Gutierrez delivered a two-RBI single through the right side. The Bearcats clawed back in the second, taking their first lead of the doubleheader with a score of 3-2 on two hits and two Hillcat errors.

A Bearcat bullpen visit in the second helped Rogers State regain momentum. Landon Wells scored Luis Fuentes on a wild pitch, and Gutierrez added an RBI after being hit by a pitch, giving the Hillcats a 4-3 advantage.
 
Northwest Missouri State used seven pitchers over the next six innings but could not slow the Hillcats' offense who secured ten runs on ten hits and three errors by Northwest Missouri. Highlighting the offensive surge was a pair of RBI singles from Kade Goeke and Trevor Spainhoward, an RBI triple by Fuentes, a two RBI single by Zak Nelson, and five stolen bases between Nelson and Gutierrez.
 
Mason Trotter entered in the third with the bases loaded and escaped the jam without allowing a hit, recording a flyout to center. The Eastern Oklahoma State transfer went on to record 13 outs, allowing three hits, one home run and one walk. Closer Michael Klein finished the game, recording the final five outs while allowing four hits and one walk over 2.0 innings.

NEXT UP
The Hillcats will travel to Wendell Simmons Baseball Field in Edmond to play their final game of the series against the University of Central Oklahoma on Tuesday, April 14. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.