Box Score Alva, Oklahoma- The 2015 Regis Rangers got their season off on the right foot with a 9-7 victory over Northwest Missouri State (1-2) in Alva. You could not have asked for a better early February baseball game as temperatures reached into the 70's.
It didn't take long for the Ranger bats to warm up either as junior shortstop Drew LaComb laced a single up the middle on the first pitch of the game. The Rangers would eventually score LaComb in the first, but that is all they were able to scratch across in the first frame. Northwest Missouri State would answer in the bottom of the inning, scoring a run of their own off a triple by Bearcat leadoff hitter Nick Gotta. However, that is all freshman pitcher Noah Gotsis would allow, as he was marvelous in his college debut. Gotsis finished with 5 innings pitched; he surrendered 1 lone hit, and struck out four as he left the game in line for the win.
The Regis bats got going again in the 5th inning as they scored four runs. Freshman Mickey Meinhofer started things with a leadoff walk. With two outs, junior centerfielder Wes Byers, junior catcher Ty Overboe, and senior infielder Logan Knox all crossed the plate to extend the Ranger's lead.
In the 6th inning, freshman John Flint hit his first career homerun sending the ball over the left field fence. After the inning, Regis led 6-1.
In the bottom of the 8th inning, junior Will Waterman got into a bit of a jam as Bearcat Nick Howard hit a grand slam to bring his team back into the game at 6-5 in the bottom of the 8th. The Rangers then turned to veteran junior Kirby Schwein and Schwein was able to get out of the mess to send the game into the 9th inning all knotted up at six.
Regis wasted no time taking back the lead as they scored three runs off of four hits on Bearcat reliever Rob Henrichs, who was not able to record an out. LaComb started the inning with a hit. Regis then went double by Byers, triple by Overboe and double by Knox to take the lead 9-6. Northwest Missouri would not go away silently however as they managed to scratch one run off of Schwein in the bottom of the 9th.
Schwein picked up the win in relief for the Rangers while Heinrichs took the loss for Northwest Missouri State. Knox led the Rangers by going 3-5 with three RBI's and two doubles. Byers also added three hits and an RBI double. LaComb and Overboe each added 2 hits. Navarro, Flint, and freshman infielders Zach Dedin and Connor Rochon each added hits for Regis as they tallied 14 total hits.
Regis (1-0) will play again tomorrow (12 pm & 3 pm) against Northwestern Oklahoma State (4-1) at Myers Field in Alva, Oklahoma.
