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The Antelope

Lopers can’t keep up with Metro-State heat

Baseball team has tough road trip in Arkansas
By Ryan Boyd

Being an athlete in baseball is a lesson in traveling and being comfortable with that. There are few occasions when the players get to enjoy playing at home, and that can create a stiff draw for a fanbase.

The Lopers’ home opener won’t be until March 2, and there are seven games on the road before that game. UNK has only been able to pull off one win so far in a two-game series in Denver, Colorado, against the Metro State Roadrunners. However, the third game was canceled due to weather conditions.

The season is young, and the time to panic has not started, especially with a roster that has veteran leadership but also a lot of energetic youth in it.

UNK was tested in its latest road trip to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, taking on some of the best Division-II teams in the entire nation.

The Henderson State Reddies were the only team to not allow a run from the Lopers over the weekend. UNK went up to bat against the Reddies Feb. 8 and lost 0-3.

Following the very next day, Lopers matched up against the Arkansas Fort-Smith Lions on Feb. 9. Arkansas Fort-Smith was able to sneak away with a 9-6 victory and has kept their undefeated streak alive at five wins for the season.

This score did not tell the entire story for the Loper men on this Friday afternoon, however. The biggest highlight of the game for UNK was a memorable two-run homerun by sophomore physical therapy major Ty Roseberry. Roseberry made it on base three out of the four times he was up to bat.

UNK’s best batter on the day was Peter Carlson, a redshirt freshman business administration major from Arvada, Colorado. Carlson made contact with the ball three out of his four times standing at home plate. Carlson’s big play came at the top of the fourth inning when his hit allowed for three teammates to run home and score for the Lopers.

On Saturday Feb. 10, the UNK men would face their biggest test against the Delta State Statesmen. This matchup against the best team in the nation would take 12 total innings to finally declare a victor.

Both teams went through a back and forth affair for eight innings. During that eighth inning, Brett Young, the junior center fielder from Lodi, California, was able to get on base, steal for second and most importantly steal for home to secure a tied ball game at four runs each.

Young, a business administration major, was able to make contact with the baseball one other time in his five at bat attempts.

UNK was outgunned at the plate as the Statesmen hit a homerun to start the twelfth inning and then had an even better showing five players later, with a three-run homerun to secure a 9-4 victory against the Lopers.

Play on the pitcher’s mound was the biggest highlight for UNK. Senior business administration major Mitchell Robinson, from Golden, Colorado, only allowed three runs in all eight innings that he pitched.

Feb. 11 was UNK’s biggest day of offensive output for the team. The Lopers went up to bat against the Ouachita Baptist University Tigers. Each of UNK’s nine starters were able to record a hit and would go on to win 13-7.

Junior outfielder Brandon Hernandez, a sports management major from San Diego, California, was the biggest contributor with three runs and two hits on the sunny Sunday afternoon.

The Loper baseball team will be traveling to Colorado from Feb. 16-18 to play two games against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions and the Regis Rangers.

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