Series Re-Cap - Arkansas Tech

Series Re-Cap - Arkansas Tech

Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats baseball team swept a two-game series versus Arkansas Tech over the 2/13-2/14 weekend in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Both teams played at a neutral site. Northwest's offense and pitching carried the series for the Bearcats. Northwest's defense was solid in game 1 but had lapses in game 2. In total, the Bearcats had a solid opening road trip to begin the 2016 NCAA D2 season. Northwest is driving home following the current road trip with a 3-3 record. Northwest's best record since 2014 at this point in the season. The encouraging thing about the opening road trip is Northwest did well against NCAA post-season caliber opponents. The tough non-conference schedule will do well for Northwest as the Cats enter conference play in two short weeks. 

Game 1 - Northwest defeated Arkansas Tech in game one of the series by the score 7-2. The Bearcats played an outstanding game in all facets - pitching, hitting, and defense. Big Joe Hietpas came through again with a dominating performance. The bullpen duo of Nikko Pablo and Carson Smith shut the door on the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys. Offensively, Northwest's outfield and designated hitter carried the day - Outfielders Kolby Greenslade, Garrett Fort, and Austin Wulff flashed the glove, the bat, and wheels. Not to be outdone by the outfield, Northwest's designated hitter Jay Hrdlicka won the day with a special performance at the plate.

Offense - Jay Hrdlicka was the offensive MVP of the game. Jay went 2 for 3 (2 doubles) with 4 RBIs, a stolen base, and a walk while playing DH. Also worthy of praise, Garrett Fort went 2 for 2 with 3 runs scored, a stolen base, and 2 walks while playing center field. Austin Wulff went 1 for 2 with with 2 RBIs and a walk. Kolby Greenslade went 1 for 3 with a run scored and a walk. Nick Gotta earned 2 walks and scored a run in the game. As a team, Northwest hit .400 with runners in scoring position in the game. Northwest batters leading off an inning hit .375 in the game. Northwest hit .667 with runners on 3rd base with less than 2 outs and .500 with the bases loaded. In total, Northwest scored 7 runs off of 6 hits, 6 RBIs, 7 walks, 6 strike-outs, and left 5 runners on base.

Defense - Northwest was charged with 1 error (Pablo).

Pitching - Joe Hietpas earned the start and picked-up the win in the game. Joe worked 6.1 innings, allowed 4 hits, 2 runs (both earned), 3 walks, 3 strike-outs, 1 wild pitch, 0 balks, and did not hit a batter. Big Joe was outstanding and did not allow an extra-base hit. Nikko Pablo came into the game in the 7th inning with 1 out. Nikko came into a tight spot and got the Bearcats out of the inning. In total, Nikko worked 1.2 innings, allowed 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and he did not hit a batter. Carson Smith came into the game in the 9th inning and worked 1.0 inning, allowed 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strike-out, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and did not hit a batter. Northwest pitchers were absolutely outstanding in this game. Northwest got the 1st ATU batter of an inning out in 7 of 9 innings. ATU only hit .200 with runners on base in the game. ATU only hit .100 with 2 outs in an inning throughout the game.

Link - Here is an article about the game from the official website of Northwest Missour State University athletics' department, bearcatsports.com - http://www.bearcatsports.com/news/2016/2/12/BB_0212162433.aspx

Game 2 - Northwest defeated Arkansas Tech 11-3 on Saturday, February 13, 2016, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, to even their 2016 record to 3-3. Northwest used solid starting pitching, lock down bullpen, and persistent offense to win the day. Austin Battaglia came into the game to pitch a masterpiece. The game was played in front of 138 fans and took 2 hours and 24 minutes. Bryce Shea came into the game to close it out without allowing any runs. Without a doubt, the pitching really buckled down to keep ATU from scoring a bunch of runs in any certain inning and kept the Bearcats in the game.

Offense - Nick Gotta was the team's offensive MVP in the game. Go-Go-Gotta went 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs, 2 runs scored, including a home run and a sacrifice fly in the game. Ozzie Adams also went 2 for 4 with a RBI and a run scored and was hit by a pitch. Derek Meyer came into the game late and went 1 for 1 with a run scored. Zach Douglas went 1 for 2 with a RBI in the game. Kevin Handzlik picked-up a RBI and a run scored in the game. Jake Lewis went 1 for 5 with a RBI and a run scored in the game. Austin Wulff went 1 for 5 with a run scored in the game. Jay Hrdlicka went 1 for 3 with a RBI, a run scored, and a walk in the game. Finally, Garrett Fort went 1 for 5 with 2 RBIs in the game. Northwest scored 3 runs as 2-out RBIs in the game. Overall, Northwest hit .324 in the game. Northwest hit .500 with runners on base, .556 with runners in scoring position, .800 with runners on 3rd with less than 2 outs, .429 with the bases loaded, and .684 in advancement opportunities. In total, Northwest scored 11 runs, earned 12 hits, 11 RBIs, hit 1 home run, earned 1 walk, 4 strike-outs, 3 batters were hit by a pitch, had 1 sacrifice fly, and left 4 runners on base.

Defense - Northwest was charged with 2 errors in the game (Handzlik and Douglas).

Pitching - Brad Roberts earned the start in the game and worked 5.1 innings, allowed 8 hits, 3 runs (only 2 earned), 1 walk, 4 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and did not hit a batter. Austin Battaglia came into the game in the 6th inning and worked 1.2 innings, allowed 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and did not hit a batter. Bryce Shea came into the game in the 8th inning and closed out the game. In total, Shea worked 2.0 innings, allowed 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and he did not hit a batter. Northwest pitchers only allowed 1 extra-base hit in the game.

Link - Here is an article about the game from the official website of the Northwest Missouri State University Athletics' Department, bearcatsports.com - http://www.bearcatsports.com/news/2016/2/13/BB_0213164928.aspx

2016 season statistics -

Player	avg	gp-gs	ab	r	h	2b	3b	hr	rbi	tb	slg%	bb	hbp	so	gdp	ob%	sf	sh	sb-att	po	a	e	fld%
Fort, Garrett	.353	6-6	17	5	6	0	0	0	3	6	.353	5	2	3	0	.542	0	0	5-6	9	0	0	1.000
Gotta,Nick	.333	6-6	21	3	7	1	1	1	10	13	.619	5	0	2	0	.444	1	0	0-0	7	14	1	.955
Hrdlicka,Jay	.316	6-6	19	2	6	2	0	0	6	8	.421	5	0	3	0	.458	0	0	1-1	23	0	0	1.000
Greenslade,Kolby	.286	6-6	21	6	6	1	1	0	2	9	.429	2	0	5	1	.348	0	0	3-5	10	0	0	1.000
Douglas,Zachary	.250	2-1	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	.250	0	2	2	0	.500	0	0	0-0	11	2	1	.929
Adams,Ozzie	.227	6-6	22	5	5	1	0	0	1	6	.273	3	2	2	0	.370	0	0	1-2	7	12	1	.950
Wulff,Austin	.211	6-5	19	3	4	1	0	0	2	5	.263	1	1	6	0	.273	1	0	0-0	13	0	0	1.000
Lewis,Jake	.158	5-5	19	4	3	0	0	1	3	6	.316	2	0	2	0	.238	0	0	0-1	21	0	0	1.000
Handzlik,Kevin	.143	4-4	14	1	2	1	0	0	1	3	.214	0	1	1	0	.200	0	0	0-0	2	4	1	.857
Meyer,Derek	.125	3-2	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.125	0	0	3	1	.125	0	0	0-0	17	1	0	1.000
Holler,James	.071	4-4	14	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	.071	0	0	4	0	.071	0	0	0-0	24	2	0	1.000
Howard,Nick	.000	3-2	7	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	.000	1	1	2	0	.200	1	0	0-0	2	5	0	1.000
Wilkinson,Luke	.000	1-1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	1	1	.000	0	0	0-0	0	1	0	1.000
Pablo,Nikko	.000	1-0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0-0	0	0	1	.000
Totals	.223	6-6	188	34	42	7	2	2	32	59	.314	24	9	36	3	.335	3	0	10-15	147	51	5	.975
Opponents	.216	6-6	176	23	38	7	0	1	20	48	.273	18	4	48	1	.300	2	6	5-6	153	72	11	.953

LOB - Team (37), Opp (36). DPs turned - Team (2), Opp (3). Picked off - Fort,Garrett 1, Hrdlicka,Jay 1, Lewis,Jake 1.

Player	era	w-l	app-gs	cg	sho	sv	ip	h	r	er	bb	so	2b	3b	hr	ab	b/avg	wp	hbp	bk	sfa	sha
Wagner,Jacob	0.00	0-0	2-0	0	0/0	0	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	.200	0	1	0	0	0
Pablo,Nikko	0.00	0-0	1-0	0	0/0	0	1.2	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	5	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Smith,Carson	0.00	0-0	2-0	0	0/0	0	1.2	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	7	.143	0	1	0	0	0
Pearcy,Hondo	0.00	0-0	1-0	0	0/0	0	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Osborne,John	0.00	0-0	1-0	0	0/0	0	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1.000	0	1	0	0	1
Hietpas,Joseph	3.18	2-0	2-2	0	0/0	0	11.1	8	4	4	5	7	2	0	0	40	.200	1	0	0	0	2
Roberts,Brad	3.72	0-0	2-2	0	0/0	0	9.2	11	5	4	5	7	2	0	1	38	.289	0	0	0	0	3
Shea,Bryce	4.26	0-0	4-0	0	0/0	0	6.1	3	3	3	3	8	1	0	0	21	.143	0	0	0	0	0
Caenepeel,Anthony	5.25	0-2	2-2	0	0/0	0	12.0	10	8	7	2	14	2	0	0	44	.227	1	1	1	2	0
Battaglia,Austin	6.75	1-1	2-0	0	0/0	0	2.2	3	2	2	2	3	0	0	0	11	.273	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	3.67	3-3	6-6	0	0/0	0	49.0	38	23	20	18	48	7	0	1	176	.216	2	4	1	2	6
Opponents	4.59	3-3	6-6	0	1/1	1	51.0	42	34	26	24	36	7	2	2	188	.223	5	9	0	3	0

PB - Team (0), Opp (2). Pickoffs - Team (1), Caenepeel,An 1, Opp (3). SBA/ATT - Douglas,Zach (2-3), Meyer,Derek (2-2), Hietpas,Jose (2-2), Roberts,Brad (2-2), Hrdlicka,Jay (1-1), Smith,Carson (1-1), Wagner,Jacob (0-1).

Next for the Bearcats - Northwest will travel to the State of Oklahoma to play Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond between February 19, 2016, and February 21, 2016. The Cats will play 3 single 9-inning games at OCU this upcoming weekend.

Go Cats!!
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