Tahlequah, Okla. – The Bearcats wrapped up their series with Northeastern State Sunday afternoon, defeating the Riverhawks 6-2. Southwest Baptist improves to 11-19 (5-13 MIAA).
 
Both teams had quiet 1^st and 2^nd innings with SBU getting some base runners in the 3^rd. Hayden Crabtree reached on an error by the shortstop to lead off the inning, later moving over to second on a sacrifice bunt. A ground ball in the next at-bat advanced Crabtree to third with Caleb Sneed approaching the plate. The Riverhawks intentionally walked Sneed who was hitting .445 heading into Sunday's game. NSU got the next SBU batter out, ending the threat. Dalton Morrow was on the mound for SBU, continuing his excellent performance by striking out all three NSU batters in the 3^rd.
 
In the 4^th, Hunter Hisky bunted his way on base to lead things off. Noah Tucker also bunted, resulting in a sacrifice to move Hisky over to second. Jackson Soule then grounded out to third, advancing Hisky to third who ended up scoring as the first baseman made a throwing error, giving SBU a 1-0 lead. The Riverhawks led off the 4^th with a double, but the runner was hosed at third on a solid relay from Blake Lutgen to Caleb Sneed to Tyler Mathys. Morrow got the next two batters via the fly out and the pop out.
 
Southwest Baptist exploded for 5 runs in the 5^th inning, taking a 6-0 lead. Blake Lutgen singled up the middle to start the rally. Tyler Mathys moved Lutgen to second on a sacrifice bunt. Then, for the second time in the game, Caleb Sneed was intentionally walked. Carl Schwettmann was hit in the next at-bat, loading the bases for the Bearcats. Hunter Hisky drove in the first run of the inning, hitting a sacrifice fly to bring in Lutgen. Noah Tucker then singled to the shortstop, loading the bases once again for Jackson Soule. Drawing four balls, Soule walked, scoring Caleb Sneed. Following the walk, Sam Avila drove the ball to left field, scoring Carl Schwettmann to go ahead 4-0. Hayden Crabtree then singled up the middle, scoring two more to give SBU a 6-0 lead.
 
The Riverhawks led began the 6^th with a walk, but Hunter Hisky hosed the runner at second trying to steal the bag. In the 7^th, Sam Avila hit a one out double and advanced to third on a ground out, but NSU got out of the inning unharmed. Northeastern scored their two runs in the 7^th, making the score 6-2. The Riverhawks got a base runner in the 9^th, but David Tongue retired the next two via strikeouts and got the third to ground out, giving SBU a 6-2 victory.
 
Sam Avila went 2-3 on the day, driving in an RBI and walking twice. Hayden Crabtree also had two RBIs. Five other Bearcats also had hits on the afternoon. Dalton Morrow went 6.2 innings, giving up 0 earned runs on just 4 hits and striking out 8 batters. Drew Wagner and David Dongue pitched the remaining 2.1 innings, not allowing a hit.
 
SBU takes a break in conference play, traveling to Lebanon, IL on Tuesday, April 2 to play McKendree at 2 PM.