The Rogers State baseball team extended its win streak to five games with a doubleheader sweep over College of the Ozarks at Hillcat Field on Tuesday.
Sophomore Tyler Whitaker (2-1) tossed a complete game and allowed just one run to earn the victory in Game 1. The Hillcats scored first on an RBI double by Todd Koscheski in the bottom of the second inning. RSU added two more runs in the third inning. Zack Bacon and Tim Gwartney started the third with back-to-back base hits and scored on a pair of RBI groundouts by Koscheski and Brett Hollingsworth. Bacon singled and scored in the sixth inning to stretch the RSU lead to 4-0.
Whitaker did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and surrendered the only run of the game for the Bobcats in the top of the seventh. Guy Wierman suffered the loss for College of the Ozarks.
The Hillcats jumped out to an early lead again in Game 2. Bacon led off the second inning with a double and scored on a single to center field by Greg Speed. The Bobcats took the lead in the fourth as two errors led to two unearned runs. College of the Ozarks extended its lead to 3-1 in the fifth as Bryan Renfrow led off the inning with a single and scored on a two-out single by Coty Holt.
Catcher Tyler Henderson ignited the Hillcat offense in the bottom of the fifth when he hammered a solo home run to left-center field into the teeth of a strong eastern wind. RSU added two more runs in the inning to grab a 4-3 advantage and broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth. The Hillcats plated four runs on four hits and sent 10 hitters to plate in the inning. Ryan Littlejohn completed the rally with an RBI double down the left field line to reach the final margin, 8-3. Littlejohn cranked out three doubles in the game and finished 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Brent Hill (3-2) picked up the win with six solid innings of work. The senior right-hander allowed just four hits and one earned run on the day. Brett Trzcinski pitched a scoreless seventh inning to shut the door on the Bobcats.
RSU banged out 13 hits in Game 2 alone. Bacon finished the afternoon 4-for-4 and reached base in all seven of his at-bats on the day. The Hillcats evened their record at 11-11 with the series sweep. RSU will travel to Bartlesville for a doubleheader against Oklahoma Wesleyan on Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.