ALVA, Okla. – The East Central University baseball team opened its Great American Conference series on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma State University on Friday night, dropping an 11-5 decision in Alva.
 
The Tigers will look to rebound in tomorrow's doubleheader in Alva scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
The Rangers struck early, taking advantage of defensive miscues by ECU to make it 2-0.  Northwestern extended the lead in the second as two more runs tacked on for a 4-0 cushion.
 
The Tigers got on the board in the third inning when Diego Sotelo delivered an RBI single to left field, driving in Mason Shimkus to trail 4-1.
 
Northwestern responded with a big fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer and additional RBIs, pushing the lead to 9-1.
 
ECU refused to go quietly. Akers doubled down the left-field line in the fifth, driving in Noble, and Shimkus homered in the seventh to make it 3-9.
 
In the eighth, Ryan Strickland launched a solo home run of his own to left field, and in the ninth, Akers scored again on a groundout to account for the team's fifth run.
 
Despite the late offensive push, ECU could not overcome the early deficit, falling 11-5 to the Rangers.
 
Tyler Akers and Donovan Noble each recorded multi-hit games, with Akers driving in a run. Mason Shimkus and Ryan Strickland both went deep for home runs, accounting for two of the Tigers' RBI. Additional hits were contributed by Diego Sotelo, Jameson Ross, Joey Allen, and Pryce Jackson.
 
On the mound, Joel Hogan took the loss after allowing eight runs on eight hits over 3.2 innings, striking out four while issuing no walks. Zane Wilson followed with 1.1 innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run on one hit. Blake Seefeldt closed out the game with three innings of solid work, giving up two runs on three hits while fanning five.