Arkadelphia, Ark - The Northwest Missouri State baseball team dropped the 2023 season opener 5-1 vs the Henderson State Reddies.

It was a scoreless game until the bottom half of the fourth inning when the Reddies struck first with a one out, one run double.

The Bearcats responded in the top half of the fifth inning. Ryan Koski led the inning off with a single followed by a single by DJ Heck and then a bunt infield single by Caden Diel loaded the bases with zero outs. Noah Bodenhausen drove in the only run of the game for the Bearcats on an RBI fielder's choice. Henderson State escaped the jam when Diel was cut down at the plate after trying to score from second on a long fly out by Evan Tocmo.

Northwest's DJ Heck produced a two hit day while also drawing a walk.

Henderson State added another run in the sixth and seventh inning to take a 3-1 lead. They added two more in the eighth, ultimately taking a 5-1 lead.  

Senior Max Spitzmiller was dealt the loss, in 7.0 innings of work he was tagged with 2 earned-runs and tallied 5 strikeouts.

Northwest is back in action tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. vs #2 Southern Arkansas at Majestic Park in Hot Springs, Ark.