CLAREMORE, Okla. – Newman kicked off MIAA play with a trip to Rogers State. The Jets and Hillcats played two on Sunday to open up their series that was postponed due to snowy conditions in Oklahoma. Newman took game one 5-2 and lost the second matchup 8-7. The two teams will meet once more Monday for the rubber match.
Game 1
Newman extended a win streak to four games for the second time with their 5-2 win in game one.
Garrett VandeVenter brought his A-game to Claremore, going 7 strong innings and punching out 5 Hillcats while allowing just 2 runs.
At the dish,
Carson Hawks was a force to be reckoned with, going 2-3 with a HR and 2 RBI.
Tyler Push was 3-5 and swiped 4 bags.
Zack Hargrove went yard as well.
Ian Lecki and
Connor Langrell slammed the door shut on the Hillcats with 2 shutout innings. Langrell pitched the ninth and earned his second save of the season.
Game 2
The Jets were swinging the hot bat to start the second game of the day, jumping out to a 7-0 run, but 8 unanswered runs from RSU gave the Hillcats the much needed series evening victory 8-7.
Four innings of run scoring gave the Jets a 7-0 advantage that was capped by
Jenner Steele's no doubt three-run blast in the fourth. Steele finished with 4 RBI's in the game.
Asher Finke was dominant through 4 innings, but really came back down to earth as his fastball command got away from him later in his start. RSU tagged Finke with 7 runs, but with the offensive showing early, Finke was not the pitcher of record.
To cap off a 7 run sixth inning, the Hillcats scored a run off of a first and third base running play that the Jets opted to take the out with given there were two away. The RSU runner pulled up and returned to first base safely as no one was covering, meanwhile Rogers State took the lead in near impossible fashion as the Jets were in control of the game for about half of the time.
Ian Lecki was credited with the loss as Soto, who scored on the aforementioned play, reached on a two RBI double and advanced on the throw in to set up the later first and third scenario.
Crae Pfannentsiel tossed two scoreless innings with 5 punchouts to keep the Hillcats within reach, but Newman's bats went ice cold as they were retired in order over the last 5 innings.
Up next
The Jets will play the Hillcats Monday afternoon for the series. Monday's matchup is set for 1 PM.