Warrensburg, Mo. - The 11th ranked Missouri Southern baseball program made it to the championship game of the MIAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 on Saturday, May 13th from Crane Stadium at Tompkins Field, falling to No. 4 and first seed Central Missouri.
Southern (42-15) made it to the championship game after beating Northeastern State (25-28) in the 11:00 a.m. game of the day with an 12-1 run rule victory. Leading the way was
Trent Harris with a 7.0 inning complete game while giving up one earned run and striking out eight in 98 pitches for his sixth win of the season,
Ethan Clark and
Matt Miller led the team with three RBIs each as four batter finished with two hits and three scored two runs.
The RiverHawks scored first with a solo home run in the second before the Lions took control of the game in the third inning with eight runs. In the eight run inning the Lions got their runs from a Kusiak bases loaded walk, Clark hit a bases clearing triple,
Garrett Rice hit an RBI double,
Drew Davis hit an RBI double and Miller hit a two-run home run to cap off the scoring.
In the fourth inning the Lions scored four more runs with Miller,
Will Doherty, Davis and
Nate Mieszkowski picking up RBI hits to push the lead up to 12-1. Harris would cruise in the last three innings while striking out two as the Lions defense turned two double plays as well to solidify the run rule victory and advance to the championship game of the MIAA Tournament.
In the championship game against Central Missouri (41-13), Clark and
Treghan Parker finished with hits as
Garrett Rice drew a walk and was hit by a pitch. At the conclusion of the game the Lions had three players named to the All-Tournament team in
Drew Davis,
Nate Mieszkowski and
Treghan Parker.
Southern will await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, May 14th at 10:00 p.m. to find out who they will be playing next and if they will be hosting a regional tournament from Thursday, May 18th - Saturday, May 20th.
Single-Season Update
Matt Miller - Broke the program record for RBIs in a season with 77 in the game against Northeastern State to pass Bryan Larson, 1991.
Nate Mieszkowski - Broke the program record for hits in a season with 93 in the game against Northeastern State to pass Bryan Larson, 1992.
MIAA Single-Season Update
Matt Miller - Is tied for third in home runs hit in a season with Dean Long, Emporia State in 2015 and Eric Shortell, Emporia State in 2008 with his 23rd home run hit today against Northeastern State. Miller is now tied with Chris Weimer, Nebraska - Omaha in 2008 for ninth in conference ranks for RBIs in a season with 77.
Nate Mieszkowski - Moved past Blaze Brothers, Northeastern State in 2022 and Orencio Fisher, Missouri Western in 2016 for ninth in runs scored with 77 following the game against Northeastern State.
MIAA Career Update
Matt Miller - Moved past Britt Westman, Northwest Missouri (2005-08) for the third most RBIs in conference history for a career with 203.
