Joplin, Mo. - The 17th ranked Missouri Southern baseball program claimed their ninth conference series of the season with an 8-7 win over Northeastern State on Saturday Apr. 22nd at Warren Turner Field on Senior Day.
The Lions (36-10, 23-6 MIAA) beat Northeastern State (18-24, 12-17 MIAA) in game one 14-4 on Friday with six Southern batter having two RBIs and four scoring more than once in the game.
Cole Woods struck out six in a no decision from 4.1 innings as
Kyle Moore won his seventh game of the season striking out two in 1.2 innings and
Cale McCallister pitched the seventh striking out two in a no save situation.
Scoring in game one took some time with neither team scoring until the third inning with NSU hitting a solo home run before a
Henry Kusiak double to right center scored
Chayton Beck and an
Ethan Clark single through the right side scoring Kusiak to make it a 2-1 lead. In the fourth inning the RiverHawks hit another solo home run with the Lions responding in the fifth with a eight run inning.
Treghan Parker and Kusiak delivered back-to-back home runs before RBI hits by
Will Doherty,
Drew Davis,
Nate Mieszkowski and Parker in his second plate appearance of the inning to make it a 10-2 lead. Southern would score two more in the sixth from a
Matt Miller double to right center scoring
Garrett Rice and a Davis single to left field scoring Miller for a 12-2 lead heading into the seventh inning.
In the seventh inning a RiverHawks solo home run and RBI double to center field held off the run rule win until the bottom half of the inning. The Lions scored first off a wild pitch and a Miller single to left center scored Clark to activate the run rule 14-4 victory in the bottom of the seventh.
For game two the Lions were led by Miller with a home run and three RBIs and Clark had two hits and two RBIs.
Cole Gayman struck out three in 4.0 innings for a no decision with Moore winning his eighth game of the season after striking out four in 3.0 innings and
Laif Hultine pitched the final 2.0 innings striking out two for his fifth save of the season.
Southern jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning with Rice, Miller, Doherty and Davis collecting an RBI in the inning. Clark picked up two RBIs in the second inning off a single to right field scoring Parker and Mieszkowski to give the Lions an early 6-0 lead.
NSU responded with runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to tie it up 6-6 before a historic half inning lead the Lions to victory. In the bottom of the seventh inning
Matt Miller delivered his 19th home run of the season a two run home run to break a tie with Jesse Rall, 2016 for the program single-season home run record and consequently collected his 192nd and 193rd career RBI to break a tie for the program record in that statistic with David Fisher, 1989-92.
The RiverHawks mounted a comeback but the Lions came away victorious 8-7 to claim the conference series on Senior Day.
Southern will play Northeastern State in the series and home finale on Sunday, Apr. 23rd at Warren Turner Field with first pitch slatted for 1:00pm.
Career Update
Matt Miller - Became the career leader in RBIs with 193 passing David Fisher (1989-92). Moved into a tie with Jody Hunt (1985-86, 88-89) for ninth in runs scored with 156. Miller is now ninth for hits with 211.
Henry Kusiak - Moved into a tie with Rick Berg (1984-87) for RBIs with 151 the sixth most in program history.
Single-Season Update
Nate Mieszkowski - Tied with Tim Casper's 1989 season for runs scored with 68 the fifth best amount in program history. Mieszkowski's 81 hits are the most be a sophomore in program history and tied with Bryan Larson's 1991 tally for the eighth most in a season.
Matt Miller -Â Broke the single-season home run record held previously by Jesse Rall (2016) with his 19th home run. Surpassed David Fisher's 1992 RBI tally for the 10th most RBIs in a season currently with 67.
Cole Woods - Passed Corbin Osburn, 2018 and Garrett Groom, 2010 for 10th in strikeouts in a season with 86.
