Joplin, Mo. - The 10th ranked Missouri Southern baseball program earned their way into the Central Regional Tournament Championship Sunday after taking out No. 15 Southern Arkansas 11-4 in an elimination game late on Saturday, May 20th at Warren Turner Field.
The Lions (44-16) against Minnesota State - Mankato (41-15) in the first game of the day at 11:00 a.m. needing a win to advance to Championship Sunday lost 13-2.
Will Doherty led the way going 2-for-4 with an RBI from a home run,
Chayton Beck also scored and was walked twice to lead the team.Â
In the third inning the Lions scored off a Mavericks error to take a momentary 1-0 lead as Minnesota State - Mankato scored five runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead, 5-1. The Mavericks added six runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh with Doherty hitting his seventh home run of the season to finish the game at a 13-2 scoreline.
Game two for the day began at 7:00 p.m. against Southern Arkansas (40-18) in an elimination game with the winner advancing to Championship Sunday.
Nate Mieszkowski and
Treghan Parker both scored three runs and hit a home run with
Matt Miller also scoring three runs and hit two home runs to lead the team. Overall the Lions had five finish with multiple hits and hit four home runs. Laif Hutline picked up his fifth win of the season with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of relief with
Trent Harris picking up the no-decision after three strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
In the second inning the Lions got on the board first with a scoreboard hitting home run by Miller for the early 1-0 lead. The Muleriders responded with a run in the second and third innings to take a 2-1 lead before the Lions took control of the game in the sixth inning.Â
Southern got the scoring started in the sixth with an opposite field home run by
Nate Mieszkowski his 14th of the season followed by RBI singles by
Garrett Rice, Doherty and
Chayton Beck to make it a 5-2 advantage. The scoring was not done for the Lions adding three more runs in the seventh, a two-run inside the park home run by Parker in the eighth and a solo home run by Miller in the ninth paved the way for an 11-4 win.
Up next for Southern will be a rematch against the Mavericks at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 21st at Warren Turner Field, with a Lions win it will force the if necessary game to determine the Central Region II Tournament champion with the winner advancing to the Central Super Regional with hosting determined by the highest seed of the two regional pod winners on Friday, May 26th and Saturday, May 27th.
Single-Season Update
Treghan Parker - Broke the MSSU sophomore home run record previously held by
Tommy Stevenson, 2022 with his 17th home run of the season. Parker also moved into sole possession of third in single-season ranks at MSSU for home runs behind only Jesse Rall, 2016 with 18 and
Matt Miller's current tally of 25.
Nate Mieszkowski - Tied Tim Casper, 2001 for the MSSU record in runs scored with 80. Mieszkowski is also now tied with Casper and Brock Reller (Northeastern State, 2022) for seventh in MIAA single-season ranks for runs scored. Moved past Blake Freeman (Northeastern State, 2022) and is tied with Kenny Burkhead (Emporia State, 2009) for ninth in hits from an MIAA player with 96.
Matt Miller - Moved past Bennett Oliver (Central Missouri, 2016), Dean Long (Emporia State, 2015) and Eric Shortell (Emporia State, 2008) for second in MIAA single-season history for home runs with 25. Miller is also tied with Garrett McGowan (Pittsburg State, 2022) for eighth in MIAA single-season history for RBIs with 79.
Career Update
Treghan Parker - Moved past Danny Rogers (1988-90) and is now tied with Nathan Hughes (2001-04) for sixth in home runs for a Lion with 31.
Matt Miller - Tied with Joey Ballard (1999-02) for sixth in hits with 226 among MSSU ranks. Became the second player in MIAA conference history to hit 60 career home runs.
