Joplin, Mo. -- The 15th ranked Missouri Southern baseball team picked up another complete-game from Cody Hutchinson and the offense broke out for five runs in the seventh as the #1 seed Lions took out #8 seed Northeastern State 8-1 in the opening game of their MIAA Tournament first-round series. 

Hutchinson went the distance for his seventh complete game of the season and moved his record to 10-0 as the Lions (37-11) went up one game to none in the best-of-three series with the RiverHawks (25-23). 

NSU got on the board first when an error on a stolen base attempt allowed Gabriel Wurth to reach third. Wurth later scored on an RBI single from Charles Simms. 

Hutchinson then settled down and held NSU scoreless from then on. 

The Lions tied the game in the fourth on an RBI sacrifice fly from Axel Johnson scoring Evin Natick. But Southern broke the game open in the seventh when the Lions scored five runs. Tee Helsel homered to lead off the inning and after Richie Gorski walked, Jon Davis doubled to the left center wall to score Gorski. 

Natick singled home Chris Hoffman and Jon Davis to put the Lions up 4-1 and a bases-loaded walk to Helsel drove in Jacob Bryant with the fifth run of the inning. 

Jesse Rall and Bryant had RBIs in the eighth as Southern put two more runs on the board. 

Helsel went 2-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Natick drove in two and scored once, while Davis and Hoffman scored two runs each. 

The Lions and RiverHawks will be back in action tomorrow evening, as they continue their best-of-three series. First pitch from Turner Field is slated for 6 pm.