Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern baseball team exploded for five runs in the eighth inning and the Lions took the series with a 10-4 win over visiting Rogers State today. 

With the win, the Lions (29-11, 22-11 MIAA) have secured the No. 3 seed in the 2021 MIAA Baseball Championship and will play host to Central Oklahoma next weekend at Warren Turner Field. 

Southern got a solid start from Jacob Davis as the freshman lefty went five and a third, allowing just three earned runs. The Southern bullpen threw the final four and two thirds, shutting out the Hillcats (18-20, 14-19 MIAA) as Logan VanWey got the win to move to 2-0 on the season. 

Clay Milas was 4-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored, capping off his day with a thrilling inside-the-park home run in the eighth inning. Tommy Stevenson had a home run, while Troy Gagan went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Dexter Swims was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while Jordan Fizpatrick and Henry Kusiak had a pair of hits each. 

The Lions got on the board first with two runs in the fourth. Milas singled home Gagan to start things and Swims had a sacrifice fly to score Joe Kinder. 

The Hillcats got a run on a balk in the fifth, but the Lions got an RBI double from Gagan in the fifth to keep the lead at two (3-1). 

RSU scored three runs in the sixth to go up 4-3, but the Lions scored seven unanswered runs to put the game away. 

Stevenson homered on the first pitch he saw to lead off the seventh inning to tie the game at four. Swims added an RBI single to score Kinder to put the Lions back on top, 5-4. 

Southern scored five runs in the eighth to put the game away. Kusiak had a bunt single to drive in Ryan Hunter and Gagan doubled behind him to score both Kusiak and Fitzpatrick. Milas capped the scoring with his inside-the-park home run to score Gagan. 

The Lions will play a best-of-three series next weekend against Central Oklahoma. Game times are 3 pm on Friday, 1 pm on Saturday and 1 pm on Sunday, if necessary.