Joplin, Mo. - A key defensive substitution in the 9th inning proved huge for Northwest as the green Bearcats beat SBU 6-4 in an MIAA tournament elimination game on Friday in Joplin. SBU had Northwest's number this season as the purple Bearcats previously swept the regular season series against Northwest in April. If you had to take losing 3 of 4 games against a conference opponent but picking which game you won, this would be it. SBU took an early lead going into the 3rd inning. Northwest erupted for 5 runs in that frame and kept SBU an arm's length away for the rest of the game thanks to another terrific bullpen. In this elimination game, both squads played exemplary defense. SBU matched the defensive playing level of Missouri Western in every way. The biggest defensive play was by a Northwest Missouri State Bearcat. In the 9th inning, Coach Loe made some defensive substitutions by moving Kolby Greenslade from right field to left field and inserting Aaron Barratt in right field. Nikko Pablo came into the game to close it out for Northwest. The first SBU batter managed to single up the middle on a 1-2 count to put a runner on first with no outs. Here is the play of the day: the second SBU batter flied out to right fielder Barratt and the SBU runner got a little too far from 1st base to get a jump in case the ball hit the ground. Barratt caught the ball and immediately fired a throw to James Holler waiting on first base a moment before the SBU runner could return to the base to double him off. 2 outs, bases cleared. Aaron ROY Barratt, ladies and gentlemen. A key descriptive point here on Barratt's throw - it was a rocket and it hit Holler in the glove between the NORTH and the WEST of his shirt. One of the hardest throws by an outfielder the B2R has ever seen. Oh baby, what a play.
Northwest advances to Saturday's elimination game and most likely play the loser of the Lindenwood/Missouri Western game. It is expected the game will start at 9am on Saturday.
Offensively, Garrett Fort was Northwest's most valuable player. Garrett went 2 for 5 and scored 1 run. Fort hit the ball hard in every at bat. He is playing at a whole other level in this MIAA tournament. Alixon Herrera also had an ATTABOY kind of day and went 2 for 4 with 1 RBI and scored a run. Herrera also hit the ball hard every at bat. Herrera is also playing at a whole other level in this MIAA tournament. Jay Hrdlicka was a man on a mission in this game with a huge double to score a run. Hrdlicka went 1 for 2 with 1 RBI and 2 walks in the game. A masterful performance by Hrdlicka. Kevin Handzlik went 1 for 2 with 1 RBI, 1 walk and scored 1 run in the game. Handzlik provided a big spark to the Northwest line-up in the game. Ozzie Adams plays baseball like he had a pot of coffee before every inning. I mean wowza. That guy sprints every where he goes. His energy is to the moon and back. Ozzie Adams went 1 for 3 with 1 RBI, scored 1 run and earned 1 walk in the game. Landon Figg went 1 for 4 in the game. James Holler went 1 for 3 with 1 RBI and scored 1 run. Kolby Greenslade went 1 for 4 with 1 RBI and scored 1 run. Kolby is just a terror on the base paths. In total, Northwest scored 6 runs off of 10 hits, 6 RBIs, 4 walks, 1 strike-out and left 7 runners on base.
Defensively, Northwest did not commit an error and in fact had many defensive star plays.
Pitching, Joseph Hietpas earned the start and picked up the win to see his 2017 record go to 5-4. Hietpas worked 5.2 innings, allowed 7 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 4 strike-outs, 1 wild pitch and he hit a batter. In the 6th inning, Jacob Wagner came into the game with runners on base and induced a ground out to hold onto the Bearcat lead. Wagner worked 0.1 of an inning (huge play to keep SBU from scoring), no hits, no runs in a clutch performance. Eddy Kraber came into the game and worked 2.0 innings, allowed 3 hits, 1 run and 1 walk in the game. Nikko Pablo picked-up his 11th save of the season and worked 1.0 inning, allowed 1 hit and no runs.
NWMSU's article on the game - http://www.bearcatsports.com/news/2017/5/12/baseball-sbu.aspx?path=baseball
Next - Northwest will play the loser of the Lindenwood/Missouri Western game on Saturday at 9am in Joplin. It will be an elimination game.
Go Cats!!
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