Alva Review-Courier -

The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Ranger baseball team jump-started its 2018 campaign on Saturday with a double-header sweep over Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee.

Northwestern (2-0) took the first game 2-0 in a combined one-hitter by a trio of pitchers. The Rangers earned a 6-3 win in the scheduled seven-inning contest.

Following the weekend series in Memphis, the Rangers will be home for four straight games, including a midweek showdown with Fort Hayes State on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and a three-game set against Missouri Southern State.

Picking up the win on the mound in game one was senior Walker Wharton who went 7.1 innings and allowed just one hit while striking out four. Matthew Bickford finished the eighth inning with a strikeout, and freshman Bryson Wrobel struck out two for his first career save.

The Rangers got on the board in the seventh inning of the first game when Jorin Van Amstel singled to right. Van Armstel moved to third two batters later on a double by Harrison Hull, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.

In the next half inning for the Rangers, Johnnuelle Ponce was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. He eventually scored from third on a sacrifice fly off the bat Steven Deckard.

Christian Brothers threatened in the eighth inning by loading the bases, but Bickford forced T.J. Klutts to fly out and end the inning.

Van Armstel and Ponce had the two lone hits for the Rangers in the first game.

Game 2

The offenses came alive in the game of the afternoon. The Rangers scored a pair of runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings to take a 6-0 lead. CBU cut that the lead in half in the bottom of the fifth innings.

Justin Bundy got the bats going in the top of the second as he led off the innings with a triple down the right field line. Bundy was driven in by Deckard, his second RBI of the afternoon. Later in the inning, Van Armstel scored on a Luis Cintron bases loaded single to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Bundy accounted for both runs in the fourth innings for the Rangers. With the bases juiced, Bundy reached on a single to score Daschal Johnson from third and Cintron from second to make it 4-0.

Johnson stretched the lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth with a double down the left field line to plate Brock Randels and advancing Brendon Kates to third. Kates wouldn’t wait on third for long as he scored on a wild pitch with the next batter at the plate.

CBU scored its first run in the bottom half of the fifth on a catcher’s interference with the bases loaded. The Bucs would add two more runs in the inning to cut the lead to 6-3.

Sean Rydell earned the win in the second game as he allowed two hits and three runs, two of which were earned, in four innings and eight strikeouts. Rydell was relieved by Nick Llorente who stopped the bleeding in the fifth, and Wrobel pitched a perfect final inning.