ALVA, Okla. – Bulldog Baseball held off a late push from Northwestern Oklahoma State for an 11-8 victory on Friday night at Glass Family Stadium in Alva. The win marks the 200th career victory for SWOSU Head Coach Zack Saunders and comes almost four years to the day and in the same location he recorded his 100th career win.
 
SWOSU, now 22-21 on the year and 18-13 in Great American Conference play, looks to secure the series and a spot in the 2019 GAC Tournament on Saturday as they play a doubleheader against the Rangers beginning at 1:00 pm.
 
The Bulldogs were offensive from the outset, scoring four runs in the first inning and taking a 6-0 lead in the second. Sawyer Toole continued his hot streak at the plate with a three-run homer in the first inning before Alex Pimentel came through with a two-run single in the second. Northwestern would answer with four runs in the third, making it 6-4 at that point.
 
The Bulldogs were able to continue manufacturing runs, using RBI doubles from Rafael Villela in the fourth and Pimentel in the sixth to run the lead to 8-4 before a three-run home run from Chase Duncan brought both Villela and Pimentel home to push it to 11-4 in the eighth. Northwestern rallied for four unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the Dawgs had enough cushion to hold off the Rangers and open the series with a win.
 
Gabe Jacobo (4-2) went the distance on the hill to pick up the win after allowing eight runs – four earned – on 11 hits while striking out nine batters against one walk.
 
SWOSU had 11 hits in the game, getting a 3-for-4 outing and four RBI from Pimentel while Alex Bedard, Villela, and Duncan had two hits apiece while Toole had three RBI on his home run.
 
Now in his eighth season at SWOSU, Saunders picks up his 200th career win and improves to 200-174 while leading the Bulldogs.