MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team prevailed over the University of Central Oklahoma in the first game of a three-game conference series, 10-8.

The Bearcats (15-23 overall, 9-16 MIAA) used four long balls and a key defensive stand in the ninth to preserve the two-run victory over the Bronchos (22-16 overall, 14-11 MIAA).

Northwest hit a pair of solo homers in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Drew Mackie smacked a drive off the foul poul down the left field line to tally the first homer. Donovan Warren made it back-to-back jacks with a solo bomb of his own on a 0-2 count to take the lead to 2-0.

The Bronchos got to Bearcat ace Max Spitzmiller in the fourth. Spitzmiller induced a pop up to second to start the inning before the Bronchos had four straight batters reach base. UCO's Seth Gray capped the four-run rally with a two-run homer.

Northwest battled back in its half of the fourth with a three-run outburst. Ryan Koski led off with a double and moved to third on a one-out single from Ryan Williams. Caden Diel ripped an RBI double to left to plate Koski. Jake Emhardt flew out to left and the Bronchos looked to double off Diel at second, but UCO third baseman Seth Gray threw the ball away into center field allowing Williams and Diel score to give Northwest a 5-4 lead.

Warren bombed his second homer of the day in the fifth with one out in the fifth. Tyler Peters unloaded a rocket shot down the left field line for a two-run homer two batters later after Koski drew a walk. Brett Holden knocked in Northwest's ninth run of the day on a bases loaded walk with two outs in the fifth.

Head coach Darin Loe turned to his bullpen in the seventh after Spitzmiller loaded the bases with one out. Josh Mitchell got a groundout to first and a strikeout to limit the damage and leave the Bearcats with a 9-6 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.

Jacob Pinkerton drove in Ryan Williams with a one-out RBI single to left in the seventh to cap the Bearcat scoring on the day.

Jacob Gajic worked a 1-2-3 eighth before encountering some troubles in the ninth. UCO strung together three straight singles in the ninth to load the bases. UCO's Seth Gray drew a walk to plate, trimming the Northwest lead to 10-7. UCO pinch hitter Alex Austin hit into a double play that scored a run but left the Bearcats one out away from the victory. Gajic went right after pinch hitter Austin Lambert and got him looking with strike three to clinch the win.

Spitzmiller claimed the victory to go to 5-6 on the season. UCO starter Lawson Isaacs dropped to 4-4 on the year.

NOTES: Northwest tallied 10 hits and had two-hit performances from Donovan Warren (2-for-5) and Caden Diel (2-for-4) ... Warren leads the team with 14 multi-hit games and has a team-best .333 batting average ... Warren and Drew Mackie are tied for the team lead in home runs with six apiece ... Diel has tallied eight multi-hit games this season ... Brett Holden has reached base in 13 straight games ... Drew Mackie has been on base in 12 consecutive games ... Jacob Pinkerton has reached base in 11 straight contests.