St. Joseph, Mo. -- The 25th-ranked Missouri Southern baseball team dropped an 8-3 decision today on the road at Missouri Western. 

The Lions (19-11, 7-9 MIAA) had a hit each from Johnny Balsamo, Cory Canterbury, Alec Alvarez, Mike Million, Alex Wheeler and Evan Cheng. Balsamo scored twice, while Canterbury, drove in two. Alvarez had an RBI, while Wheeler had a run scored. 

Will Bausinger started and went four innings, striking out six, while allowing four runs on four hits. Joey Reeves, Jared Flores and Brennon Covington threw in relief. 

Western (16-13, 9-7 MIAA) got a 3-for-4 day with three runs and an RBI from Bailey Zimmer. Dusty Stroup drove in three. 

The Lions got on top first with an RBI single from Alvarez in the first. 

Western answered back with three in the second, two in the fifth and one in the sixth before Southern answered back with two in the seventh. 

A two-RBI double from Canterbury in the seventh provided the offense, scoring Balsamo and Wheeler. 

Western ticked on two more runs to cap off the scoring. 

Both teams will finish the series tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is slated for 1 pm.