Pittsburg, Kan. - The Missouri Southern baseball team continued play on the road as they began a three game series at Pittsburg State Friday afternoon. Cole Gayman struck out 10 over 7.2 innings and eight different Lions recorded a hit to secure the 6-1 victory. With the win, MSSU improves to 22-4 (10-1 MIAA) on the year.

Pitching and defense was strong on both sides until the fourth inning, when Missouri Southern broke things open. Will Doherty got things going with a one out double, then Wyatt Morgan singled to center. Ethan Clark put the first run on the board with a single to drive in Doherty, then three more followed on RBI singles by Nate Mieszkowski, Drew Davis, and Chayton Beck. The fifth and final run of the inning was scored by Drew Davis, coming home on a fielding error. 

Cole Gayman was tossing a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but it was broken up on an infield single to shortstop. He continued to deal through seven, eventually being replaced by Kyle Moore who pitched a scoreless and hitless 1.1 innings. Drew Townsend led off the ninth with a walk, leading all NCAA DII players with 36 this year. In his MSSU record-tying 775th at-bat, Henry Kusiak smacked a double down the left field line, scoring Townsend to make the final 6-1. 

Cole Gayman recorded 10 strikeouts over 7.2 innings pitched, surrendering just 1 run on 4 hits to make his record 6-0 on the year. Of the eight Lions to record a hit, Nate Mieszkowski went 1-3 with an RBI, a run scored, and a walk. Henry Kusiak went 1-3 with a double, an RBI, and a walk, and his next official at-bat will set the MSSU career record at 776. 

The teams will square off again on Saturday, with the first pitch scheduled for 2:00pm at Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg, Kansas. 
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