Pittsburg, Kan. - The Missouri Southern baseball team secured the series win against Pittsburg State Sunday afternoon, taking game three by a score of 3-1. Stellar pitching and timely hitting gave the Lions just what they needed. The win improves MSSU to 23-5 (11-2 MIAA) on the year.
Henry Kusiak was the first man on base in the contest, drawing a full count walk.
Ethan Clark also drew a walk in the first, but both runners were stranded at the end of the inning. The second looked similar for MSSU, as a couple reached on walks but no runs were scored.
With one out in the third,
Will Doherty got on with a walk as well, later coming around to score thanks to a
Treghan Parker two-run blast to right field. The Gorillas cut their deficit in half in the fourth, plating one run to make it 2-1.
Missouri Southern wasted no time getting that run back, as
Will Doherty hit a double to left to score
Henry Kusiak and extend their lead to 3-1 in the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, the Gorillas had a runner on after being hit by a pitch, but a 5-4-3 double play ended the inning. Pitching and defense held strong for the remainder of the game, ending it 3-1 in favor of the Lions.
Cale McCallister threw 8.0 innings for the win, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 7 batters in the process.
Kyle Moore picked up his fourth save of the year, tossing a scoreless and hitless ninth inning.
Treghan Parker drove in 2 runs on a home run to right field, and
Will Doherty went 2-4 with a double, driving in a run and scoring another.
The Lions will remain on the road once more in this stretch, playing at Drury in a non-conference game on Tuesday, March 19. That contest is scheduled for 4:00pm at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park. For their next weekend series, Missouri Southern will be back at home as they play host to Washburn.
