St. Joseph, Mo. -- The 11th ranked Missouri Southern baseball team went up 3-1 early, but four unanswered runs for Missouri Western led the Griffons over the Lions 5-3 in the series opener tonight. 

Southern (15-2, 8-1 MIAA) went up 3-1 after three innings, but Western (9-6, 2-3 MIAA) scored three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to put the game away. 

The Lions scored a run in the first on an RBI single from Tee Helsel and Western tied the game in the second. Southern answered right back with two in the third when Thomas Wilson drove in Jesse Kinzey and Cullen Baxter. 

Western's Ethan Ward started for the Griffons and threw 72 pitches through the first three innings, but settled down and despite throwing 132 in the game, finished strong and earned his third win of the season. 

Cody Griebling started for the Lions and went five and two thirds striking out two and allowing four earned runs. Bo Bergen threw the final two and a third, allowing just one hit. 

Wilson 1-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Michael McCoy had two hits. Helsel had Southern's other RBI, while five Lions had a hit each. 

The Lions will be back at it tomorrow afternoon with a double-header, beginning at 1 pm.