JOPLIN, Mo. – The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team evened its season mark at 4-4 behind a stellar pitching performance from Max Spitzmiller and patience at the plate to post an 11-1 victory over Truman State University.
 
The Bearcats drew 12 walks from three different Bulldog pitchers in the win. Northwest also managed nine hits, while limiting Truman State to seven hits.
 
Spitzmiller (2-1) allowed only a first-inning run. Spitzmiller tied a career-high as he struck out 11 batters and scattered six hits when he departed following seven innings on the hill.
 
The Bulldogs managed three of their hits in the first inning and tagged Spitzmiller for his lone run given up in the game. Spitzmiller settled in following three straight singles from the Bulldogs after he had retired his first batter.
 
The Bearcats took the lead in the top of the second with a four-run outburst. Ryan Koski singled to begin the inning. Tyler Peters followed with a single to left. Peters and Koski moved up on a wild pitch with Drew Mackie at the plate and only one out. Mackie laced a two-run single to right to plate both Koski and Peters. Jacob Pinkerton delivered a two-out home run to center that drove in Mackie and placed the Bearcats in the lead at 4-1.
 
Northwest tacked on another tally in the fifth. Donovan Warren reached on a one-out single through the left side and scored on a two-out double by Peters.
 
The Bearcats showed patience in the sixth as the first three batters all worked walks to load the bases. Drew Mackie led off the inning with a five-pitch walk. Caden Diel followed with a seven-pitch walk and Pinkerton did the same with seven pitches. Brett Holden knocked in Mackie when Holden worked a five-pitch walk. Warren tallied an RBI on a fielder's choice groundout to second that plated Diel. Koski worked the count and drew a five-pitch walk to reload the bases. Peters collected the sixth walk of the inning which allowed Pinkerton to score and give Northwest a comfortable 8-1 advantage.
 
Northwest pushed across three insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Ethan Judd was hit by a pitch to begin the ninth. Judd scored as Pinkerton ripped an RBI triple to left center. Cole Slibowski reached first on a fielder's choice. Holden grounded out to second to put both runners in scoring position. Warren delivered a two-run single to right to up the Bearcat lead to 11-1.
 
Josh Mitchell pitched the eighth and allowed one hit, while Jacob Gajic pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout to close out the Bearcat victory.
 
Pinkerton notched a single, triple and double to go along with three RBI and three runs scored. Peters also secured a three-hit night going 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI. Warren went 2-for-6 with three RBI.
 
NOTES: Northwest and Truman State were meeting for the first time since the 2017 season … this was the 137^th all-time meeting (only the second on a neutral site) between Northwest and Truman on the diamond … Northwest holds a 106-31-1 lead in the all-time series … Ryan Koski drew four walks … it's the first time a Bearcat had received four walks in a game since Jay Hrdlicka was walked four times at Fort Hays State (March 2, 2018) … Bearcat head coach Darin Loe captured his 699th career coaching victory … Spitzmiller's previous 11-strikeout games came Feb. 22, 2021 vs. Minot State and Feb. 15 vs. St. Cloud State (Spitzmiller lost both of those previous 11-strikeout contests) … it is the fourth 10-plus strikeout game of Spitzmiller's collegiate career.