Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
Runs were definitely hard to come by for the Murray State baseball offense Saturday as they were on the wrong end of a conference sweep at the hands of Northern Oklahoma College Tonkawa at The Ranch.

The Aggies dropped the opener 8-1 and then fell 6-2 in game two to slip to 13-11 on the season and 1-5 in league action. NOC-Tonkawa remained unbeaten in conference play at 6-0 and 19-6 overall.

Game one was definitely an omen of things to come as the Murray State offense sputtered the entire contest before picking up its first hit of the game in the seventh and final inning when Ethan Rone singled. Ty Chaddrick added a two-out single to drive in the lone Aggie run of the game.

Tonkawa meanwhile was producing two runs in the second, three in the fourth and three more in the fifth stanza on 12 hits against four Murray State hurlers. Cooper Ewing was the most effective of the group, tossing two and one-third scoreless frames out of the bullpen on one hit while striking out one.

Cash Kuiper got the start and was saddled with the pitching loss, yielding two runs on four hits in one and two-third innings. Four of the five outs he recorded were by strikeout. Jakob Holzer scattered three runs on three hits and Ryan Dugas was charged with three runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Game two was scoreless until the fourth when the Mavericks plated a pair to take the lead for good.

Murray State finally got on the scoreboard with a run in the fifth frame, getting its first hit on an Andrew Tinsley lead off double. Rone reached on an error and Jaxon Gless followed with an RBI single to right that cut the advantage in half. A base running miscue and pair of groundouts however ended the rally there.

Tonkawa tacked on two runs in the seventh and another pair in the ninth before a final Aggie flurry in the bottom of the stanza. Kane Springer led off with a walk and rode home on a Rone one-out double but that proved to be all the scoring for the hosts, who tallied five hits in the game.

Tinsley notched two hits with Rone, Gless and Wilbert Espinal contributing one apiece.

Jakob Blackwell twirled six solid innings in the pitching start but was tagged with the loss, allowing two runs (just one earned) on six hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. Javarian Roquemore yielded two runs on one hit in one-third of an inning and Kyndon Lovell worked two frames while giving up two unearned runs on no hits with four free passes and two strikeouts. Shepard Hall added two-thirds of an inning to close it out.

Murray State will have a pair of non-conference doubleheaders this week to close out a 17-game homestand. The Aggies face DFW Post Grad at noon on Monday with Brookhaven College at The Ranch starting at 1 p.m. Wednesday.