Tahlequah, Okla. - Playing a three game series in Oklahoma, the Missouri Southern baseball team was back at it with Northeastern State Saturday evening. The Lions secured the series win with a victory in game two by a score of 13-9. In that contest,
Henry Kusiak became Missouri Southern's sole leader in career Runs Batted In. MSSU's record jumps to 32-10 (19-7 MIAA) with Saturday's win.
The nation's leader in walks,
Drew Townsend, led off Saturday's game with a walk, later moving to third on a single by
Ethan Clark. With two outs in the inning,
Will Doherty doubled to left center, giving the Lions a 1-0 lead in the first frame. NSU responded with two runs in their half of the inning, but
Drew Davis tied it at 2-2 in the second inning with a triple to score
Garrett Rice.
Following a quiet third inning, the Lions pulled ahead once again in the fourth.
Drew Davis led off the inning with a single, then
Wyatt Morgan walked to put runners on first and second.
Nate Mieszkowski then doubled to left-center, scoring Davis. Later in the frame,
Drew Townsend came up big with a three-run homer to right-center, making it a 6-2 Lion lead.
Northeastern State plated a pair in the fifth, then the Lions had a historic sixth inning. Four walks early in the sixth scored a run, then
Henry Kusiak drove in
Chayton Beck on a sacrifice fly, recording his 207th career RBI. He tied the record a few games back, but is now the program's sole leader in career Runs Batted In.
Will Doherty scored the third run of the inning with a single, making it a 9-4 score.
In the eighth,
Will Doherty scored a run on a failed pickoff attempt, then
Garrett Rice came home on a ground out. The hosts scored one in their half as well, making it 11-5 heading into the ninth. With two outs in the ninth,
Tyler Ferguson launched a two-run shot over the left field wall, then the hosts scored four in the bottom of the inning, making it a 13-9 final score.
Drew Townsend had a team-high 3 RBI on his home run, scoring 3 runs and drawing 2 walks as well.
Will Doherty recorded his second straight four-hit contest, two of those going for doubles. He had 2 RBI and a run scored in the win.
Henry Kusiak picked up his record-setting RBI, going 1-4 with a walk as well.
Trent Harris struck out 8 batters over 7.0 innings to secure the victory.
The Lions will look for the series sweep on Sunday, as game three is scheduled to start at 1:00pm.
