Pittsburg, Kan. - The Lions were back in action for the MIAA Tournament Championship Saturday afternoon, taking on the top-seeded and #2 nationally ranked Central Missouri Mules. Heading into the game, the Lions had not suffered a loss in the tournament, and that didn't change on Saturday.
In a four hour thriller that went back and forth, Missouri Southern defeated Central Missouri 18-16 to claim the MIAA Tournament Championship, the program's first time doing so since 2015. The Lions were declared the Tournament Champions that year after weather caused the final game to be canceled. In 2013, the Lions defeated Missouri Western to claim the Tournament Championship as well. This marks the fifth MIAA Tournament Championship won by the Missouri Southern baseball team, also claiming the title in 1991 and 1992.
The Mules started with a strong first inning, retiring the Lions in order then putting two runs on the board. In the first of many back and forth innings, the Lions responded with a pair of runs thanks to home runs from
Will Doherty and
Nate Mieszkowski. UCM took the lead at 4-2 with a couple of runs in the bottom of the second, but MSSU scored three in the third to take their first lead.
Henry Kusiak hit a one out home run, then
Drew Davis hit a two out, two RBI single to left, 5-4 Lions.
Central Missouri fought back to take a 6-5 lead, but Missouri Southern tied things up as
Ethan Clark scored on a ground out in the top of the fourth. Again, the Mules took the lead with a three run bottom half of the fourth, but the Lions responded with a five run top of the fifth. With the bases loaded,
Ethan Clark hit a double to left, scoring two runs. Two more runs scored thanks to a
Henry Kusiak single up the middle, and he later scored on a fielder's choice to give Southern an 11-9 lead.
After giving up just one run in the bottom of the fifth, the Lions were back at it in the sixth. A sacrifice fly from
Ethan Clark scored
Drew Davis, then
Henry Kusiak and
Will Doherty recorded back-to-back RBI doubles to make it a 15-10 ball game. Down but not out, UCM rallied for six runs in their half of the sixth to take a 16-15 lead.
Drew Townsend drove one deep enough to score
Treghan Parker on a sacrifice fly in the seventh to tie things up, then
Ethan Clark drove in
Drew Davis with a single to right to regain the lead. With two outs in the eighth, Missouri Southern added an insurance run thanks to an RBI double from
Treghan Parker.
The Mules led off the bottom of the eighth with a single, but
Laif Hultine sat down the next three batters via swinging strikeouts to send things to the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, Hultine and the Southern defense retired the Central batters in order to claim the victory, 18-16.
On the day,
Henry Kusiak was 3-5 with a home run and a double. He drove in 4 runs, scored 3, and walked twice.
Ethan Clark finished 3-6 with a double, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored.
Will Doherty was 3-7 in the game, all three hits going for extra bases in 2 doubles and a home run. He recorded 3 RBI and 2 runs scored as well. Of the team's 15 hits, 10 went for extra bases.
Laif Hultine was credited with the win, tossing 3.2 innings in relief. He gave up 0 runs on just 2 hits, striking out 5 in the process.
The Lions had six named to the All-Tournament team, led by the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player,
Henry Kusiak. Along with Kusiak,
Drew Townsend,
Cole Gayman,
Laif Hultine,
Ethan Clark, and
Will Doherty received the honors.
Over the entirety of the MIAA postseason, the Lions scored 57 runs in their 5 games played, averaging more than 11 runs per contest.
Will Doherty hit .538 (14-26) over those contests, recording 5 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 home run, driving in 11 runs and scoring 7 himself.
Henry Kusiak went 10-19 at the plate (.526), hitting two doubles and a home run, scoring 9 runs, driving in 4, walking 4 times, and was hit by a pitch 3 times for a .654 on base percentage.
Drew Townsend and
Ethan Clark both recorded a .500 batting average. Townsend was 10-20 with 3 doubles, 4 home runs, 4 RBI, 12 runs scored, and 4 walks. Clark went 9-18 with 2 doubles, 10 RBI, and 5 runs scored.
Southern will await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, May 12 at 9:30pm to find out who they will be playing next and if they will be hosting a regional tournament from Thursday, May 16-Sunday, May 19. Information on the Selection Show can be found
here.
