MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team split Saturday's doubleheader with the Christian Brothers Bucs to split the series 2-2. Northwest won game one 15-4 in seven innings, the Bucs took game two 8-7 in eight innings on a walk off single.
 
Northwest moves to 2-2 on the season, the Bucs also move to 2-2.
 
GAME ONE
Northwest got on the board first for the first time this season when Brady Miles hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Caden Diel.
 
Northwest added to its lead in the top of the third inning with a seven-spot following a two-out barrage of hit by pitches and two-out hits. Layne Shiers knocked in Ryan Williams and Cole Slibowski with a line drive single to right field, Jake Emhardt was then hit by a pitch to knock in a run followed by a Noah Bodenhausen infield single to the shortstop to score another Bearcat run and stretch the lead to 5-0.
 
Three more Bearcat runners came around to score when Cole Slibowski reached on an infield single to the shortstop and the throw to first went errant down the right field line to grow the Northwest lead to 8-0 after 2 ½ innings.
 
The Bearcats tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth, Ryan Williams scored on a wild pitch and Kaehukai Young lifted a two-run blast to left field, his first as a Bearcat to give Northwest an 11-run cushion.
 
Christian Brothers got on the board in the fourth with an RBI triple to left field and an RBI single up the middle to cut the Bearcat lead to eight.
 
Northwest answered in the fifth and the sixth, Caden Diel scored on a wild pitch in the fifth and then Noah Bodenhausen drove in Jake Emhardt with an RBI double, Slibowski followed with an RBI single to extend the Northwest lead to 14-3.
 
Casey Stalzer got the win while making his third start as a Bearcat and was excellent in 4 2/3 innings of work, Stalzer recorded a career high in strikeouts with eight and surrendered three runs on four hits.
 
Young lifted his second home run of the day, a solo blast in the top of the seventh to bring the Bearcat lead to 15-3.
 
Four different Northwest hitters recorded a multi-hit game, as a squad Northwest tallied 13 hits and 13 free passes including nine hit batters.
 
GAME TWO
Christian Brothers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run and pair of RBI singles off Bearcat starter Jaxson Meyer.
 
Northwest got on the board with an RBI single to left field from first baseman Trey Morris in the top of the fourth inning.
 
In the fifth inning Cole Slibowski hit an RBI infield single to bring the Bearcats within two at 4-2.
 
Northwest rallied to take the lead in the seventh inning, Caden Diel got it started with a bases loaded walk, another bases loaded walk by Ryan Williams pushed the tying run across. Trey Morris and Layne Shiers followed with back-to-back two-out base hits to give the Bearcats a 7-4 lead.
 
Christian Brothers struck back in the bottom of the seventh with three runs of their own to tie the game at seven.
 
The Bearcats went scoreless in the top of the eighth.
 
The Bucs loaded the bases in the bottom half of the eighth off Bearcat closer Jacob Gajic, Clay Facteau followed with a line drive single to right field for the walk-off win.
 
Trey Morris was 3-4 on the day with three RBI.
 
Northwest is back in action on Friday, Feb. 9 on the road at Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Ark.