The Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball team dropped a heart-breaking loss to Southern Nazarene by a final score of 7-5 after a pair of 9th inning runs.

The Northwestern Oklahoma State baseball team hosted their annual "Hot Dogs and Apple Pie" event at the David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid against Southern Nazarene University on Wednesday evening. The match-up served as a non-conference game despite the Rangers defeating the Crimson Storm in the team's first meeting in Bethany by way of a three-game sweep back on April 7-8.

Southern Nazarene jumped on Ranger's starting pitcher Thomas Sanderearly with three runs in the opening frame following a two-out error from Sander that allowed two of the three runs to score.

Sander would last just 2.2 innings while giving up six hits along the way and just a single earned run.

The Rangers found an answer to the opening three runs from Southern Nazarene in the bottom half of the second inning thanks to a lead-off walk from Corpus Christi, Texas native Arturo Castro that set up shortstop T.J. Kassner with the RBI opportunity in which he cashed in on. Kassner followed up his RBI single with a stolen base to set up fellow middle infielder Casey Dickerman with runners on second and third base. The senior took advantage of the opportunity and brought the Rangers back within one run following the conclusion of the second inning, 3-2.

Dickerman finished the day going 1-for-2 with four RBIs and a walk. Kassner also had a productive day going 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

Southern Nazarene threatened to increase their lead in the top of third, loading the bases against Sander before head coach Sam Carel turned to freshman Nick Llorente, who escaped the inning without any runs crossing the plate.

Following two scoreless attempts for both teams in the third inning, Southern Nazarene increased their lead to 4-2 after a throwing error by Castro that allowed a run to cross the plate where Castro threw the ball away attempting to throw out the runner stealing third. The Ranger catcher would get his redemption shortly thereafter however, as the Storm attempted to steal third again, this time with Castro throwing down and Deckard sticking with tag as the runner over-slid the bag, resulting in third out of the inning.

Down 4-2 entering the bottom half of the fourth inning, back-to-back singles from Deckard and Kassner allowed Dickerman to cash in on two more RBIs after he dinged one of the left field wall for a double, tying up the contest at 4-4 heading into the fifth inning.

Deckard continued to produce following the hand injury he sustained in late February, going 2-for-4 with two runs.

Llorente continued to deal in the top half of the inning to keep the Storm off the board. Senior Jacob Long singled to lead off the inning and then stole second to put some pressure on the opposing pitcher. The Ranger sluggers were unable to knock Long home however, keeping the score at 4-4 following five innings of baseball.

A solo shot over the wall in left field off of Llorente put the Crimson Storm back ahead 5-4 in the top half of the sixth.

Llorente would last 3.1 innings and fanned four SNU batters while allowing just one earned run during his time on the mound.

The speedy Kassner earned his way on base in the bottom of the sixth in the form of a walk and then stole both second and third to score on a sacrifice fly from Dickerman. Dickerman's fourth RBI of the contest tied up the game at 5-5, prompting coach Carel to send in reliever Matthew Bickford for the seventh inning of work.

He would ultimately be charged with the loss despite not giving up an earned run in his three innings of work.

Bickford came in and allowed a single hit while retiring the other three SNU batters he faced in the inning. The Rangers also failed to get anything going during the seventh, bringing the contest into the eighth inning still square at 5-5.

First baseman Pat Delano hit a towering fly ball to an awkward spot down the right field line that the Crimson Storm defense was unable to corral to get on base with a lead-off single. A dribbler to second advanced Delano to second, who was then pinch ran for by Lewisville, Texas native Daschal Johnson. Johnson advanced to third on a wild pitch while the two other empty bags were quickly filled by a walk and a hit by pitch by Dickerman and Douglas. However, a strikeout ended the threat from the black-and-red, sending the game into the final frame tied up at 5-5.

A misplayed ball by Long in deep right field allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate, followed up by a wild pitch on an apparent pitch out attempt by Bickford. The Storm would enter the final half inning with a 7-5 advantage.

The Rangers presented one final threat in the bottom half of the ninth inning with the bases loaded, but were unable to get the required two runs across to extend the game.

Up Next

The Rangers will return to Great American Conference play this weekend at home at Myers Stadium with games scheduled for a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday against Henderson State. Times for the contests will be announced when decided upon by both teams depending on the weather forecast for the Alva area.