Story Headlines- The Northwest Missouri State baseball team used a pair of home runs to outlast Quincy, 10-9, Tuesday afternoon in Maryville.
- The Bearcats improved to 9-11 on the year, while the Hawks saw their record slip to 7-5.
- The teams will meet again one week from today, March 24, in Quincy, Ill.
- Northwest used seven pitchers in the contest.
Key Statistics- Batting leadoff for the first time this season, left fielder
Kolby Greenslade finished the day 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBI, all coming on a grand slam, his first home run on the year.
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Kevin Handzlik only had one hit, but he made it count. The freshman crushed his first collegiate home run over the left field fence in the fourth inning.
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Paul Johnson reached base four times and laid down a sacrifice bunt in his other at bat, going 3-for-3 with a double and one run scored.
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Steven Garber drove in three runs on two hits while scoring two runs of his own. The 6-foot-6 senior now has 17 RBI on the year, second on the team.
- Third baseman
Nick Howard drove his fifth double of the year to drive in a run in the third, finishing with two runs and one RBI.
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Austin Battaglia started on the mound for Northwest, throwing three innings and giving up two runs on just three hits. The sophomore struck out six Hawks while walking one.
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Rob Henrichs earned his first win of the year after inducing three straight ground balls in the eighth.
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Carson Smith picked up his fifth save when he came in to close out the ninth. The senior struck out one and picked off a baserunner to record the final out.
Key Innings- The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead when
Kolby Greenslade led off the first with a single through the right side. After
Garrett Fort drew a walk,
Paul Johnson loaded the bases with a bunt single down the third base line.
Steven Garber drove in the opening run with a single through the hole at short.
- After Quincy took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, the Bearcats stole the lead right back in the bottom of the inning after Johnson clubbed a one-out double down the left field line. He came in to score when Garber drove a single to right. Garber made the score 3-2 when he scored on
Nick Howard's double down the left field line.
James Holler drove in the final run of the inning when he singled to right, knocking in Howard.
- The Hawks put up a four-spot in the fifth, but Northwest answered quickly with four runs of its own. After Howard,
Austin Wulff, and
Zachary Douglas loaded the bases with two walks and a hit by pitch, Greenslade crushed the first pitch he saw over the left fielder's head for a two-out grand slam.
- Fort scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth when after he was hit by a pitch to start the inning. The sophomore moved to second on Johnson's sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Fort crossed the plate when Garber reached on a fielding error.
- After striking out the first batter of the ninth,
Carson Smith gave up a frozen-rope single to Kory Wisdom. After forcing a fly ball to center, Smith recorded the final out when he picked off Wisdom at first. Wisdom started to second after Smith stepped off, and Garber threw to shortstop
Nick Gotta who applied the tag to seal the victory.
Up Next- The Bearcats will host Fort Hays State for a four game MIAA series over the weekend, March 20-22. The teams will open play on Friday in a single game starting at 2 p.m. First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader will be 1 p.m. and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at noon.
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