Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern baseball team continued play at home Monday afternoon, taking on the Mary Marauders who also played in the MSSU Lion Classic over the weekend. Starting the week off with a win, the Lions defeated the Marauders by a score of 7-4 to improve to 11-2 on the season.
The visitors scored a run in the first, but the Lions got that one back and one more.
Garrett Rice drew a one out walk then moved to second on a wild pitch. With two outs in the inning,
Andrew Brubeck hit a single to right-center to drive Rice home.
Drew Townsend then hit a single to right-center, and
Henry Kusiak followed with a double down the left field line to make it 2-1 Lions.
Mary plated a couple more runs in the third, but
Drew Townsend evened the score at 3-3 in the fourth inning with a home run off the scoreboard. In the fifth,
Will Doherty got on base after being hit by a pitch, then stole second base.
Garrett Rice put the Lions back ahead with a single to center, scoring Doherty.
Leading off the bottom of the seventh,
Will Doherty hit a single to left. The Lions later started a two-out rally, as
Drew Davis singled up the middle to drive in Doherty and move
Garrett Rice over to second.
Chayton Beck followed with a double to right-center, scoring both runners and giving MSSU a 7-4 lead heading into the eighth. The defense and pitching held strong in the final two frames, ending with a 7-4 final score.
Drew Townsend went 2-2 with a home run on the afternoon.
Henry Kusiak also recorded a couple of hits, one being a double, and an RBI.
Chayton Beck hit a two RBI double in his lone at-bat of the day.
Jacob Davis was credited with the win, tossing 4.0 innings in relief, giving up 1 earned run on 4 hits while striking out 5 batters.
Aron Harrington closed things out, getting two of the three outs via the strikeout.
Missouri Southern will play their final game of this home stretch tomorrow, Tuesday, February 20. That competition will feature the Northeastern State Riverhawks in a non-conference matchup, scheduled to start at 3:00pm.
