Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA, Okla. – Big innings continue to doom the Northwestern Oklahoma State University baseball team as it dropped its midweek game at Fort Hays State, 18-16, on the road Wednesday afternoon.

The Rangers lost their third straight game, after suffering a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Arkansas Tech on Sunday. The first losing streak of the season has caused the Rangers to fall to an 8-7 record overall.

They look to break the skid in their first true road conference series on Friday when they take on Southeastern Oklahoma State. Game one of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m., with games two and three set as a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon.

After two conference series under their belts, the Rangers are currently sitting in the middle of the Great American Conference standings with a 3-3 league record. Southeastern is 4-10 overall and 1-5 in the league.

Friday's games will mark the first time Ranger coach Ryan Bowen will face his alma mater at the helm of an opponent. Bowen arrived at Northwestern prior to this season after a stint as an assistant coach on the Savage Storm staff, as well as playing his last two seasons of his playing career in a SOSU uniform.

Junior third baseman Justin Bundy had the biggest day at the plate the for the Rangers with three home runs, which tied a school record, and five runs batted in. It's the first three home run game for Northwestern since Josh Caruso had three against Hillsdale Baptist in 2015.

The Rangers hit seven total long balls in the contest, bringing the team total to 16, equaling the total of homers from all of last season in less than a third of the amount of games played.

The Rangers have allowed five or more run innings in six of the seven losses. Bowen and his staff would have loved to only allow a five-run inning as the Tigers put up a 10 spot in the bottom of the second, all after the Rangers put up nine runs in their first two half innings.

Before an out was even recorded in the game, senior Jorin Van Amstel put the Rangers on the board in a big way with a three-run home out to left field to bring home Daschal Johnson and Luis Cintron. After Jacob Bundy drew a walk following Van Amstel's homer, Johnnuelle Ponce lifted off over the wall near the left field pole.

The home runs were Van Amtel and Ponce's third home runs of the season.

The Tigers answered with a run in the bottom of the first to make it 5-1 after one. But it looked as if the Rangers were breaking open the lead in the second when Johnson started a six-run innings with a center field solo home run.

A little inning the inning with Cintron on after a double and a Van Amstel single, Judah Zickafoose make it 9-1 with a home run down the right field line.

That's when the Tigers responded with 10 runs in the bottom of the second. Eight of the second innings runs, as well as the run in the first inning, were earned runs credited to starter Nick Llorente. Sean Rydell (1-3) entered in the second innings and took the loss after allowing four runs on four hits.

Bundy's first home run of the game came in the top of the fourth with the Rangers trailing 13-9. Van Amstel led the inning off with a double, setting up a two-run shot by Bundy to cut the lead to 13-11.

The home squad stretched its lead after plating four straight to make it 17-11 heading in to the sixth. In the top of that innings, Bundy hit his homer second of the game over the wall in right center.

Following the Tigers 18th run of the game in the bottom of the sixth, the Rangers began to chip away at the lead yet again in the seventh inning as Cintron drove a 3-0 count into the right field to bring home TJ Kassner.

Zickafoose made it 18-14 in the Rangers half of the eighth when he took third on a wild pitch and scored in the same sequence on a throwing error. With NWOSU's final push of the game, Johnson led off the ninth inning with a single through the left side to set the stage for Bundy's third homer of the game.

Johnson and Cintron each had four hits for the Rangers. Along with Bundy's five runs, Van Amstel and Zickafoose drove in three runs a piece.