Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern baseball team picked up a pair of homers today in a 15-6 series-opening win against Lindenwood University inside of the MSSU Baseball Stadium. 

Southern (7-0, 1-0 MIAA) picked up a pair of runs in the first inning to go on top 2-1. Chris Hoffman singled with two outs to start the rally. Jesse Rall singled behind him and Tee Helsel singled up the middle, scoring Hoffman. Chad Shannon then singled home Rall for the fourth-straight single and the second run of the inning. 

Lindenwood scored two in the top of the third, but the Lions broke out for five runs in the bottom half of the inning. Richie Gorski nailed a three-run homer to left and Evin Nattick followed that up with a home run to left of his own. Helsel had an RBI single earlier in the inning. 

The Loins added a run in the fourth on a bases-loaded walk to Gorski, and another in the sixth on an RBI double from Helsel. Two scored for the Lions in the seventh and they added four more in the eighth. 

Tyler Burgess started and went five innings for win number one on the season. He struck out four and walked one. Kyle McCulloch pitched the final four innings for his first save of the year. 

Gorski went 2-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Helsel went 4-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored and a double. Nattick scored three times and drove in two with a pair of hits, while Rall and Shannon scored two each. Chris Hoffman went 3-5 with three runs scored. 

The Lions will be back in action tomorrow when Southern hosts Lindenwood in a double-header. First pitch for the twin bill is slated for 1 pm.