GOODWELL, Okla. — Close to nabbing a doubleheader sweep to start its Heartland Conference series, the Newman baseball team was forced to split at Oklahoma Panhandle State Friday afternoon.
The Jets (8-14, 1-4 Heartland) earned a 17-11 win in a slugfest to open the day against the Aggies (6-19, 1-1 Heartland), but despite a comeback in the second game, the hosts tied it up before a walk with the bases loaded earned them a 5-4 victory.
In a wild first game that saw runs scored in 10 of the 14 half innings, Newman took an early lead thanks to a triple from Brian Canfield and an RBI single from Aaron Mack to make it 3-0 before the Aggies came to bat. OPSU went ahead in the bottom of the second, Newman tied it in the next frame, and the hosts went back up in the third.
The heart of the order kept coming up big for the Jets, as Nick Griffin knocked in Canfield and Mack added another single to draw even at 5-5 in the third. Canfield kept his day going in the fourth with a run-scoring single before Griffin launched a three-run home run to left center to put a charge into the Jets.
The Aggies went back ahead in the bottom half, but Ked Bailey tied it up with a double down the line in right, and Canfield put the Jets up for good with a two-out, two-RBI single in the fifth.
Kane McCarthy got the win after getting the Jets out of a jam with 2/3 of an inning, and Alex Hoelscher closed out the final three to get a save, allowing just four hits and a sacrifice fly. At the plate, Canfield had a monster game, going 5-for-5 with four RBIs. Griffin also knocked in four runs, while Mack was 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs and Bailey 3-for-4 with three runs scored.
The 18 hits Newman pounded out in Game 1 was the most since recording 19 against Washburn on Feb. 23, 2016.
The second game started quietly for the Jets, as a Channing Williams double got the guests on the board, but an OPSU rally gave them a 3-1 lead after three. Needing to work for each hit as the game continued, Daniel Jahnke came up with one in the sixth, singling to right to score Paul Rupnik and get Newman to within one.
In the middle of four-plus shutdown frames from Bradley Altdoerffer on the mound, the Jets found their chance, as Jacob Hamerle put up a fielder's choice to tie it, and Williams added his second RBI of the game on a sac fly to right to put them up 4-3.
Newman took the lead to the bottom of the ninth, but the Aggies worked the count and took advantage of free passes to load the bases, tying things on a hit batsman, and winning on a walk.
Jahnke and Williams each went 2-for-3 in the second game, while Altdoerffer tossed 4 1/3 innings, allowing just two hits, no walks, and striking out five.
The Jets and Aggies face off again Saturday for the rubber match at noon.
