FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Apr. 5, 2008

Two pitching gems lift Southern over Northwest Missouri

Game one box score | Game two box score

Maryville, Mo. - Ryan Verfurth and Scotty Roberson each pitched complete games to lead the Missouri Southern Lions to a doubleheader sweep of the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats in a pair of seven-inning games Saturday afternooon (Apr. 5) at Bearcat Field in Maryville, Mo. The Lions took the opener 3-1 and completed the sweep with a 7-2 victory in the nightcap.

Matt Mantle drove in the first Lion run in the opener with a single that scored Cliff Wheeler in the first inning that gave the Lions the early one-run lead.

The Lions added two more in the third on RBI singles from Derek Ezell and Alec French to go up 3-0.

Britt Westman had an RBI double in the bottom of the third for the Bearcats' only run of the game.

Verfurth (3-3) was outstanding for the Lions, allowing only one run and striking out six over the seven innings.

Juan Hernandez and Skyler Rawlins each had big offensive outings to lead the Lions to the win in the second game. Hernandez was 4-4 with two RBI, while Rawlins went 3-3 and drove in three runs.

Hernandez snapped a scoreless tie in the third with an RBI double that scored Rawlins.

The Lions (12-19, 10-7 MIAA) then scored four runs in the fourth that included a two-run single by Rawlins and RBI singles from Hernandez and French. The Lions benefited from an error in the inning that accounted for three unearned tallies.

Ryan Bledsoe brought the Bearcats (17-13, 7-8 MIAA) to within 5-1 with an RBI single in the fifth, but Rawlins led off the seventh inning with a solo home run and the Lions also added an unearned run in the inning for their seventh run.

Roberson was solid for the Lions in the nightcap, giving up only two runs on four hits.

MSSU and NWMSU will wrap up the four-game series with a nine-inning contest tomorrow (Apr. 6) beginning at 1 p.m. in Maryville, Mo.