Northwest Missouri State Bearcats Baseball Report: Bearcats win Barn Burner, 19-15 over Lions

Bearcats win Bar Burner, 19-15 over Lions

Joplin, Mo. - Your Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat baseball team scored 19 runs and defeated the Missouri Southern Lions 19-15 at Joplin in Game 3 of the road series. During the game, frustrated Lions' players and coaches would argue balls & strikes, calls at certain base, and slam clipboards in the dugout. The Bearcats beat the Lions at their own game - out slug the competition. Northwest's offense did it all, hit home runs, score early, score late, steal bases, sacrifice runners over, get hit by a pitch, and hit doubles. When Missouri Southern would score the Bearcats would answer. The game took 3 hours and 35 minutes to complete and the weather was great at 74 degrees and partly cloudy. Southern announced the attendance at 217 patrons.

LF Kolby Greenslade #3 had a terrific weekend against Missouri Southern where he was on base and in the heads of the Lions defense.

Northwest has the finest baseball coaches in Darin Loe and Mike Creason. It is remarkable to me how Coach Loe gets so many players into the game in roles that they can productively contribute to the team's success. It is probably easier to stick with 8 position players with the occasional pinch hitter or runner late in the game but Coach Loe pencils in players where they can succeed so that the entire travel roster can contribute to help the team. Coach Loe will give the bullpen high leverage situations to succeed and do it again. As a result, the Bearcat baseball team is engaged and fired-up to win a baseball game. Its great to see how hard the guys pull for each other in the dugout.

While the Southern fans resembled a Sunday crowd, the Bearcat faithful in the stands were loud and proud. One of the neat sights of Game 3 came after the Bearcat win when parents and fans lined-up in a single-file line with their hands extended to cheer on and give the Bearcats a high-five as they walked from the dugout to the bus. There were probably 15-18 people deep giving high-fives or knuckle-bumps. The guys all smiled and returned the high-fives down the line. Great way to end a successful day at the ballpark.

A B2R thank you to Brenda Roberts for taking this photo of the Post-game high-five line-up following Game 3 on April 10, 2016. Bearcat fans are the best.

After everybody loaded the bus, the team had dinner at Qdoba Mexican Grill. Smiles and hearty-laughter were all around. The guys had burritos the size of their heads and enjoyed each others' company. Some of the guys were catching up on the Masters Golf Tournament and others were checking out social media. The B2R and family got to sit with the coaches for fun conversation. The Creason boys were quite a hit with the team. Chase Creason (approximately 2 years old) had Coach Loe laughing hard at one point. Oh what a day. After dinner and before it was time to load the bus, Mrs. Creason took this awesome photos of the Creason boys and Junior B2R (thumbs up) with Aaron Barratt, Nick Gotta, Garrett Fort, and Ozzie Adams.

Thank you to Mrs. Creason for this awesome photo of the Bearcats spending time with kids.

Offense - It is extremely difficult to pick a MVP when the Bearcats score 19 runs within 9 innings. The B2R loves this dilemma and will gladly make the selection knowing there are many worthy candidates. Garrett Fort was the Bearcats' MVP in Game 3. In total, Garrett went 5 for 6 with 6 RBIs, 2 runs scored, 1 stolen base, and was hit by a pitch. The "Cheetah" was all over the base paths. In addition, Kevin Handzlik went 3 for 5 (including a double and a home run) with 2 RBIs, 3 runs scored, and was hit by a pitch. Ozzie Adams went 2 for 7 with 4 RBIs and 1 run scored while playing 2nd base. James Holler went 2 for 5 with 1 walk and 1 run scored in the game. Jake Lewis went 2 for 3 with (including a double and a home run), 2 RBIs, 2 walks, 1 sacrifice, and 2 runs scored while playing catcher in the game. Kolby Greenslade earned 3 walks and scored 3 runs while playing left field. Nick Gotta went 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored, and 4 walks in the game. Jay Hrdlicka went 1 for 4 (including a home run) with 1 RBI, 2 runs scored, and 2 walks in the game. Aaron Barratt went 1 for 4 with 2 runs scored in the game. Austin Wulff picked-up 1 RBI as a late-game pinch-hitting role and defensive substitution in right field. In total, Northwest scored 19 runs off of 17 hits, 18 RBIs, 12 walks, 10 strike-outs, and left 11 runners on base.

Defense - Northwest was charged with 3 errors in the game which led to 4 unearned runs late in the game.

C Jake Lewis #22 beats the tag at first base in Game 3 versus Missouri Southern.

Pitching - "Big Red" Brad Roberts earned the start fort Northwest in Game 3 and picked-up his 2nd win in 2016 to see his record climb to 2-2. Brad would have to sit for long periods of time because of how well the Northwest offense was doing against Southern. In total, Brad worked 6.0 innings, allowed 10 hits, 8 runs (all earned), 3 walks, 6 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and he did not hit a batter. Carson Smith came into the game in the 7th inning to pick-up a 3-inning save. Carson now has 4 saves in 2016 according to the box score. In total, Carson worked 3.0 innings, allowed 6, 3 earned runs (7 total runs), 0 walks, 3 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and he did not hit a batter in the game.

CF Garrett Fort #2 celebrates a double in Game 3 versus Missouri Southern.

NWMSU Athletics' Department story link - http://www.bearcatsports.com/news/2016/4/10/baseball-at-missouri-southern-april-10.aspx

Head Coach Darin Loe observes game action from the dugout in Game 3 versus Missouri Southern.

Next - Northwest gets a little home-cooking as the 'Cats stay in Maryville to play rival Missouri Western in a mid-week MIAA Conference match-up on Wednesday, April 13, 2016, on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University. First pitch is set for 2pm at Bearcat baseball field.

C Jake Lewis #22 is congratulated by his teammates after scoring another run in Game 3 versus Missouri Southern.

Magic Number of Conference wins to earn play-off berth in the MIAA baseball post-season tournament - 8 (unofficial and completely by B2R's analysis)