BITTER ENDING: RiverHawks fall short in 11-10 loss to Henderson State

May 23—MAGNOLIA, Ark. — Northeastern State's historical season came to a bitter and controversial end Saturday.

The RiverHawks nearly overcame a late six-run deficit for the second straight day, but fell short to Henderson State, 11-10, in the NCAA Central Region II Tournament at Goodheart Field at Walker Stadium in Magnolia, Arkansas.

Blaze Brothers delivered what would've been a sure-double to left center field with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, scoring Tucker Dunlap, Collin Klingensmith and Blake Freeman, but was called out at second base after colliding with the first base umpire while rounding first base.

NSU had Brock Reller, the Central Region Player of the Year, in the on-deck circle.

"That play from the umpire is not the reason that you lose the game," NSU head coach Jake Hendrick said. "But you hate to have the end result or the last play come in a situation like it did. You have the best hitter in the country coming up next and you're down by one, so we like our chances right there.

"Obviously I lost my cool there a little bit. You can just see your whole season flash before your eyes on a play like that that you know's incorrect. It shouldn't have ended that way."

The RiverHawks finished their season with a 38-18 overall record. They were one win shy of matching the single-season school record of 39 wins in 1996.

"Tremendous. Arguably one of the best seasons in NSU history," Hendrick said. "Tremendous amount of competitiveness and guts and great team chemistry. I'm really proud. I'm really proud of what they've done. It's been fun...the seven years to watch this thing grow into something that's this special that gets people this excited...this is what you do it for."

NSU trailed 11-5 going into the ninth. Matt Kaiser, who was hit by a pitch that resulted in a broken nose during the second inning, returned to the game and smacked his 20th home run of the season to center field with one out and Brayden Rodden on first base to begin the rally. Rodden got aboard on a single through the right side of the infield.

The table was set for Brothers after Dunlap reached on an error, Klingensmith walked and Freeman was hit by a pitch. Brothers' hit came on the first pitch he saw from Henderson State reliever Andrew Howard.

NSU pitchers tossed seven scoreless innings, but the Reddies scored seven runs in the fourth inning and followed with four more in the fifth. Ten of the runs came with two outs.

"That was the tale of really the whole thing, I feel like," Hendrick said. "We didn't limit those innings, and we had chances to do so. That's the game. You don't throw blame on those guys out there competing. They want to get zeros. When it's going to be a tight game like that, each pitch matters and each play matters. Sometimes you feel it at the very end."

The Reddies were spearheaded in the fourth with two-out hits from Cade Tucker and Dillon Thomas. Tucker put Henderson State up 3-2 with a two-run single to left, and Thomas later delivered a three-run double to left to make it 6-2.

In the fifth, Greyson Stevens hit a three-run homer to right center field to give Henderson State an 11-2 cushion. All four runs in the inning came with two outs.

NSU scored single runs in the second and third innings. Kademon Graff scored Nathan Norris, who was running for Kaiser, on a sacrifice fly to center for the game's first run in the second, and Reller walloped his 28th homer of the season to left center with one out during the third.

The RiverHawks scored twice in the fifth inning on a Rodden RBI single and a Kaiser run-scoring double, and added another run in the sixth to get to within 11-5 after Reller came through with an RBI single.

Brothers closed with a game-high four hits and joined Kaiser with three RBIs. Reller, Rodden and Kaiser each finished with two hits. NSU had 11 hits as a team, and Reller added a pair of RBIs.

Henderson State, who fell to Southern Arkansas, 12-11, in the regional championship game later Saturday, were led by Tucker's three hits. Tucker, Stevens and Thomas had three RBIs apiece.

Reddies' starting pitcher Austin Cross earned the win. Cross allowed five earned runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings pitched. He ended with four strikeouts and issued six walks.

Korrdell Jiles took the loss in a starting role for the RiverHawks. Jiles gave up seven earned runs on hour hits in 3.2 innings. The right-hander recorded five strikeouts and walked six.

NSU relievers Quinten Romero, Davin Pollard, Dakodah Jones, Cohen Bell and Jake Bigham didn't allow a run and gave up seven hits in 5.1 innings. They struck out seven and walked seven.