Lion baseball drops series to Northwest over the weekend

Apr. 1—MARYVILLE, Mo. — After splitting two extra-inning games with Northwest Missouri State University, the Missouri Souther State University baseball team dropped the decisive third game 12-5 on Saturday in Maryville.

Saturday game

In the third game of the series on Saturday, the Bearcats rode the strength of a six-run seventh inning to claim a 12-5 win.

The Bearcats held a 3-1 advantage after the first inning, but Southern took a 4-3 lead with a three-run fourth.

Northwest regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth when its team plated two to take a 5-4 lead. They exploded for six more runs in the bottom of the seventh and added another run in the bottom of the eighth to take a 12-4 lead heading into the final inning.

Southern managed to put a run across in the top of the ninth, but Northwest held on to claim the 12-5 win.

Cale McAllister (3-2) was tagged for the loss after giving up five runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 4 1/3 innings of work.

Connor Polli (2-0) logged the win for Northwest. He gave up no runs and one hit while striking out five and walking three in five innings.

Game 1

In Game 1 of the three-game series last week, both teams plated a run in the first inning.

The Lions (28-8, 15-5) scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning, but the Bearcats responded with a trio of runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.

Southern took a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth and held that lead until the bottom of the eighth, when NWMSU tied the game again at 5-5.

The Bearcats (15-18, 7-13) claimed the 6-5 walk-off win in the bottom of the 11th inning off a Trey Morris single that plated Cole Slibowski.

Treghan Parker led the Lions, going 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI; Garrett Rice was 1 for 4 with two RBIs and a run.

Brock Steggall (3-1) logged the win for NWMSU. He gave up no runs on three hits, striking out six and walking five in five innings of work.

Game 2

The Lions exacted their revenge on Friday and came out on top with a 7-5 extra-innings win.

Neither team could put a run across until the Bearcats put one on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. They added two more in the bottom of the fifth to go up 3-0.

Southern tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth and took a 4-3 lead with a run in the top of the seventh inning off a Ryan Cline pinch hit solo home run. The lead was short-lived as NWMSU tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the frame.

The Lions recaptured the lead with a run in the top of the eighth, but the Bearcats tied the game again in the bottom of the ninth inning and sent the game into extra innings.

Neither team could put a run across until the 12th inning when the Lions tallied two off a Parker single that scored Will Doherty, and a Rice single that plated Tyler Ferguson.

Henry Kusiak led the Lions after going 3 for 6 with a run and an RBI. Nate Mieszkowski was 2 for 3 with three RBIs and Wyatt Morgan finished 2 for 4 with two runs.

Michael Moore (3-1) was credited with the win after giving up no runs on two hits, while striking out two and walking two in 1 2/3 innings. Laif Hultine got the save, giving up no hits in one inning of relief.

The Lions return to Warren Turner Field at 6 p.m. Friday when they host Central Oklahoma (27-7, 14-6.)