ALVA, Okla. - Truman State baseball opened their season with a doubleheader against Northwestern Oklahoma, where the Bulldogs fell 10-8 and 6-1.
Game One:
The Northwestern Rangers went up 2-0 with sacrifice flies in the first and third innings.
The Bulldogs tied it up in the fourth with a Dakota Joggerst RBI single and a Colin Mueth single to right field that scored Joggerst.
Northwestern took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth with a home run, but Truman answered with four of their own to go up 6-3. Tal Dean hit an RBI single, Alex Wittenauer scored on a passed ball, Colin Mueth scored on a dropped third strike, and PJ Jerszynski walked which brought Luke Turner in.
The Rangers cut the lead to two in the sixth with a groundout that scored a run, and Truman added two more in the top of the eighth and ninth with a Dylan Thompson home run and an Alex Witternauer RBI single.
Northwestern scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth to win in comeback fashion. The Rangers made it an 8-5 game with an RBI single, then 8-6 with a bases loaded walk, then a walk-off grand slam to win it.
Dakota Joggerst led the Bulldogs hitting in game one, recording three hits in four at-bats with an RBI and a double.
One of Tal Dean's two hits with a double, along with an RBI and a walk.
Oliver Degenhardt also had two hits with a walk, and Dylan Thompson hit a home run.
Alex Wittenauer and Colin Meuth both drove a run in.
Pitching Isaac Epp threw 6.0 innings, allowing four earned runs on 11 hits. He Struck out five and did not walk a batter.
Jaren Guck and Brian Bruxvoor threw scoreless innings, with Guck having a strikeout with no hits allowed.
Game Two:
The second game of the doubleheader featured less offense, where the Rangers took an early 4-0 lead after three innings. They scored on a sacrifice fly in the first, a two-run homer in the second, and a solo home run in the third.
Dylan Thompson drove Tal Dean in on a double to left field to give Truman their lone run of the game.
Northwestern hit a third home run to give them a 6-1 win.
Tal Dean, Dylan Thompson, and Will Fromm all recorded three hits in the second game. Thompson had the Bulldogs only extra-base hit of the game and the only RBI.
Kevin Donohue also got a hit in three at-bats.
Ty Rauser took the loss for Truman, throwing 4.0 innings and giving up four earned runs. He struck out three of the 21 batters he faced, and walked three as well.
Alex Leary threw an inning, allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts.
Drew Hnilo threw a scoreless inning, walking one with no hits or strikeouts.
The Bulldogs and Rangers play two more tomorrow at noon and 3 p.m. to round out the series.
