Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern baseball team played the final contest of their nine game home stretch Tuesday afternoon, taking on the Northeastern State Riverhawks in a non-conference matchup. The Lions had the offense rolling, hitting three home runs in their 14-6 midweek victory. With the win, MSSU improves to 12-2 heading into conference play this weekend.
The Riverhawks led off the game with a single and attempted to steal second, but
Chayton Beck threw him out. They put together a couple more hits in the inning, leading to a 1-0 NSU lead. Northeastern State had another runner on with one out in the second, but a 5-4-3 double play ended the half inning.
The visitors got on the board again in the top of the third, but
Drew Townsend was quick to respond as he led off the MSSU half of the inning with a home run over the right field fence.
Henry Kusiak followed with a double near the left field corner, then
Ethan Clark hit a triple the other way to bring him home and tie the score at 2-2. The lead was taken over thanks to a
Will Doherty home run to left-center. Later in the inning with runners on second and third,
Garrett Rice hit one to center to plate two more for the Lions. Missouri Southern scored once more in the inning, as Kusiak drove home Rice on a sacrifice fly to take a 7-2 lead after three played.
The Lions managed to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth, then
Will Doherty drew a walk to record another RBI and another run for MSSU. Still with the bases loaded,
Treghan Parker sent one over the scoreboard for a grand slam and a 12-2 Lion lead.
Northeastern State bounced back with a pair of runs in the sixth, one in the eighth, and one in the ninth.
Nate Mieszkowski poked one past the infield for an RBI single in the seventh and
Henry Kusiak drove in
Drew Townsend in the eight, making it a 14-6 final.
Treghan Parker finished the game with two hits, launching a grand slam for 4 RBI. He also added 2 runs scored.
Henry Kusiak drove in 2 runs on 3 hits, scoring a couple himself as well.
Will Doherty picked up 2 hits in 4 at-bats, recording 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. He also had one of the team's stolen bases.
Kyle Kaempf got the start and the win, going 5.2 innings on the afternoon. He struck out four, giving up just two earned runs in the game.
The Lions will hit the road for their next competition, opening conference play with a weekend series against the Fort Hays State Tigers this Friday-Sunday, February 23-25. They'll return to Warren Turner Field on March 1-3 for a series with the Newman Jets.
