Bethany, Ok. — Southwest Baptist University's baseball team opened their season Friday, playing the first two games of a series against Southern Nazarene University. The Bearcats lost to the Crimson Storm 2-3 in the first game but came back to win 13-7 in game two. Friday's games put the Bearcats at 1-1 to start off the season.
 
In the first game, SBU fell behind in the 1st inning before tying it up in the top half of the third. An RBI by senior Lane Snow, put the Bearcats ahead in the 5th. That lead would hold until the Crimson Storm completed the final lead change of the game in the 7th. Ryan Ray and Raydley Legito led the team in hits with two a piece. Legito, along with Hayden Prewitt, were the only two Bearcats to score a run in game one. 
 
Ryne Kaiser started on the mound for Southwest Baptist and threw an incredible opening game as a Bearcat with 5.2 strong innings. He helped keep the Bearcats in the lead with 10 strikeouts, until Koen Van T Klooster relieved him in the 6th. 
 
In the second game, the Bearcats started off strong, securing three runs in just the first inning. The Crimson Storm gained a lead in the second, but the Bearcats retook the upper hand in the third inning with another three runs scored. Southern Nazarene battled back tying it up in the same inning, but the Bearcat bats exploded in the 7th with six runs to hold onto a 13-7 lead. Ryan Ray put up an impressive performance with four hits, two doubles, two runs, and two RBI's. Legito and  Cooper Burgess each added two more RBI's to the teams' stat line. 
 
Eli Stewart, Conner Hammonds, and Jude Sundquist secured time on the mound combining for a total of four strikeouts. Hammonds was on the mound when the Bearcats took the lead and was credited with the win. 
 
SBU finishes out their series against Southern Nazarene University on Saturday, February 7 with games at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in Bethany, Ok. Stay up-to-date with Bearcat Baseball by visiting sbubearcats.com and following SBU Athletics on Instagram (@sbubearcats).