Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern baseball team was back in action on Saturday, playing game two of their series with Emporia State. MSSU jumped ahead early, fell behind midway through, then fought back for an 11-7 victory to improve to 19-4 (7-1 MIAA) on the year.
Emporia State got on the board first, scoring two runs in the first inning. Missouri Southern wasted no time getting those runs back, plating three in their first offensive opportunity.
Drew Townsend and
Henry Kusiak hit back-to-back singles to lead things off, then
Will Doherty drove them both in with a double to right-center.
Ethan Clark and
Nate Mieszkowski also recorded RBI doubles in the inning, giving the Lions a 4-2 lead.
The second inning saw more of the same from MSSU, as
Will Doherty drove in the Lions' fifth run on another double. After a quiet third, ESU plated one in the fourth and four in the fifth to take a 7-5 lead.
Again, the Lions responded quickly, regaining the lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Nate Mieszkowski hit an infield single to third, scoring
Wyatt Morgan, then
Ethan Clark came home on the next play which ended up being a drop by the first baseman. An 8-7 Lion lead was taken late in the inning, as
Henry Kusiak drew a bases loaded walk.
Nate Mieszkowski led off the seventh with a triple to right-center, then scored on an infield single by
Tyler Ferguson. A batter later,
Drew Townsend launched one to right-center, knowing it was gone as soon as it left his bat.
Laif Hultine threw the final 4.2 innings of the game, getting credit for the win, 11-7.
Will Doherty drove in 3 runs on the day, going 3-5 at the plate with 2 doubles.
Nate Mieszkowski went 3-5 as well, recording a double and a triple with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.
Ethan Clark and
Henry Kusiak each went 3-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.
The Lions and Hornets will wrap up the series on Sunday with a first pitch scheduled for 1:00pm.
