JOPLIN, Mo. – The #21 Missouri Southern baseball team fell in a tightly contested matchup with #10 Illinois Springfield 10-8 on Saturday. The Lions will wrap up the MSSU Invitational Sunday, February 19 against Minnesota State-Mankato at 10 a.m.
How It Happened
Matt Miller opened the scoring with an RBI single to bring home Nate Mieszkowski to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
The Lions added another run in the bottom of the second as Chayton Beck blasted a home run over the centerfield wall.
The Prairie Stars got a run back in the top of the fourth to cut the Lions lead to 2-1.
Mieszkowski launched his second homer of the weekend to push the Lions lead back to two in the bottom of the fifth. It was Mieszkowski's third home run of the season.
A one-out walk by Ryan Doran was cashed in by a Tyler Ferguson double to widen the lead to 4-1 through six innings of play.
Illinois Springfield was able to take their first lead of the game thanks to a pair of home runs in the top of the seventh. The Prairie Stars took a 5-4 lead with four runs in the frame. A five-run eighth gave UIS a 10-4 lead.
The Lions' offense would not go quietly as Henry Kusiak homered to center in the bottom of the eighth to trim the deficit to 10-5.
The Lions loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and Ethan Clark doubled home a pair of Lions to cut the lead to 10-7. With two outs in the final inning, Will Doherty singled home Miller to bring the score to 10-8.
This brought the winning run to the plate for Missouri Southern. The Prairie Stars were able to record the final out and escape the ranked matchup with a win.
The Missouri Southern offense pounded out 11 hits in the game.
Next Up
The Lions will face Minnesota State – Mankato Sunday, February 19 at 10 a.m. at Warren Turner Field.
