Lindenwood walks-off, wins Game 1

Lindenwood walks-off, wings Game 1

St. Charles, Mo. - The Bearcats caught the Lindenwood Lions' attention after Friday's walk-off defeat in St. Charles by the score 3-2. In his best outing of the season, Joseph Hietpas silenced arguably the most potent offense in the MIAA for over 6 innings. In addition, the Bearcats bullpen, which had issues in the 6-8th innings in games, held strong and got into the 9th inning with a 2-0 lead. Give me Carson Smith and a 2-0 lead in the 9th inning every game. On Friday, the Lions came away with the victory scoring 3 runs in the 9th. Tip your cap and give them an attaboy. Bottom line - Northwest had the pre-season #4 team on the ropes at their place. Can Game 2 get here soon enough?

Offense - Jake Lewis was Northwest's offensive MVP in Game 1. In total, Jake went 2 for 2 (including a double) with 1 walk and 1 run scored while playing 1st base. Derek Meyer went 1 for 2 with 1 walk and 1 sacrifice hit while playing catcher. Aaron Barratt went 1 for 1 with 1 run scored in a pinch hitting role and later played right field in the game. James Holler was a late-game defensive substitution at 1st base and went 1 for 1 in the game. Jay Hrdlicka went 1 for 4 in the game. Kolby Greenslade went 1 for 4 with 1 RBI and 1 stolen base while playing left field. In total, Northwest scored 2 runs off of 7 hits, 1 RBI, 5 walks, 2 strike-outs, and left 8 runners on base.

Defense - Northwest was charged with 2 errors in the game (Handzlik and Greenslade) that led to 1 unearned run.

Pitching - Joseph Hietpas was a warrior on Friday for your Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats baseball team. In total, Big Joe worked 6.1 innings, allowed 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 6 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and he hit 1 batter in the game. In the 7th inning with 1 out, Nikko Pablo came into the game. Nikko worked 0.2 of an inning, allowed 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 1 strike-out, 1 wild pitch, 0 balks, and he hit 1 batter. In the 8th inning, Bryce Shea came into the game and worked 1.0 inning, allowed 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strike-out, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and he did not hit a batter. Carson Smith came into the game in the 9th inning with a 2-0 lead. Officially, Carson worked 0.1 of an inning, allowed 4 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 0 walks, 0 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and he did not hit a batter.

Link - Here is a link to the story about Game 1 from Northwest's Athletics' Department website - http://www.bearcatsports.com/news/2016/3/4/baseball-opens-series-at-lindenwood.aspx

B2R concluding thoughts - Tip your cap to Lindenwood for earning a hard fought victory. You can bet your bottom dollar though that a tip of the cap also goes to Northwest's pitching for getting the ballgame into the 9th with the lead. The Bearcat defense could fine tune its motor for Saturday and the offense needs a little gas on the throttle. Stay tuned for an epic Game 2 on Saturday in St. Charles. First pitch is set for 1pm.

Go Cats!!

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