Miami, Oklahoma

Reiver Baseball barely skipped a beat from opening weekend as they travelled south again for diamond action.  Northeastern Oklahoma A&M saw the Reivers strike first on a bases-loaded walk in the 1^st inning.  Sophomore Jevon Mason took a free pass that plated Sam Riola.  The Norsemen would get out of the jam without further damage and the Reivers remained quiet until the 3^rd.  Iowa Western took five out of six on opening weekend, without a home run.  Jaden Rolffs, last year's co-leader in that department, blasted the 1^st of the season for the club to make it 2-0 Reivers.  Louisville signee Cooper Bowman, who led the 2019 squad with 90 runs scored, added another pair as the game continued.  One on a passed ball in the 4^th and again in the 6^th after he earned an RBI base on balls to get on base.  Bowman and Riola both then scored on Rolffs RBI double before Mason singled in Rolffs for the final 7-0 tally.  Conner Mackay picked up his first win as a Reiver with six strong innings of work.  The redshirt freshman yielded only three hits and a base on balls while striking out eight before giving way to Alex Firsdon for the final inning of work.

Game two saw the Reivers jump ahead on Norsemen miscues in the third as Derek Shoen scored on a passed ball and Spencer Parker came across on a Riola RBI groundout.  NEO struck back in the fifth, adding a run on an RBI single and another on a Reiver passed ball.  The second long ball of the season for Iowa Western pushed them quickly in front in the sixth as Shoen struck to plate Bowman and Thomas Bean for a 5-2 lead into the bottom half.  Back to back singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for NEO, leading to a Zachary Davis grand slam, giving the home squad their first lead of the day into the game's final inning.  Back to back singles from Noah Hull and Jevon Mason with one out in the seventh set the table for Nick Juaire and Cooper Bowman.  The duo continued the hit parade, stroking back-to-back doubles, with Bowman's plating the tying and go-ahead runs.  Nathan Berg earned the win after pitching the final 1/3 of an inning in the sixth and Sam Riola earned the save by shutting down NEO in the seventh.

The Reivers improved to 7-1 on the year with the sweep with a double-header against Crowder set for Saturday and Sunday.

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