Springfield, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern baseball program scored first tonight at Drury, but the Panthers answered back in the first and held on to defeat the Lions 4-3 at Meador Mark in Springfield. 

Southern (20-16) had solid pitching from the staff as Skylar Hill started for the Lions and went six innings, striking out two and scattering five hits, while allowing three earned runs. Kanon Hoover threw two innings in relief and he allowed just one hit, while striking out two and walking none. 

Drury (21-7) wins its 15th game in a row as the Panthers saw a solid outing from its starter Ryan Colombo. Colombo went seven and a third and struck out five, walked none, while allowing three earned runs. 

The Lions struck first with two in the top of the opening frame as Beau Phillips and Matt Smith had back-to-back singles to start things off. Logan Moon reached on a fielder's choice, putting runners at the corners and one out in the inning. Axel Johnson grounded out to the right side to drive in Phillips for the first run, and Brett Graham singled to left field to drive in Moon for run number two in the inning. 

Drury scored three in the bottom of the first and another run in the fourth, before the Lions added another run of their own in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Jared Lupo, scoring Brandon Weller. 

Weller went 3-4 at the plate with a run scored, while Lupo was 2-3 with an RBI. Phillips, Smith, Graham and Zack Steadman had a hit each, while Johnson, Graham and Lupo drove in a run. 

The Lions will be back in action this weekend with a four-game set at Joe Becker Stadium against Northeastern State. Games are slated for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Note ... Missouri Southern head coach Bryce Darnell served game one of a two-game suspension for an ejection at Northwest Missouri State. Per NCAA rules, Darnell will serve the final game in game one of the series against NSU.