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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Lions led the No. 15-ranked Southern Arkansas Muleriders 6-3 after six innings, but the Muleriders exploded for five in the seventh and four more in the eight to pull away to a 17-9 win in the series finale Sunday afternoon (Mar. 2) at Joe Becker Stadium. Trailing 3-1 heading to the bottom of the fourth, the Lions (1-8) plated five that inning to claim the lead. Kenny Hart led off the inning with his third homer of the season that was shortly followed by a two-run double by Derek Ezell. Skyler Rawlins and Cliff Wheeler also had run-scoring hits in the fourth. SAU (14-3) responded with two runs in the fifth and then tied the score in the sixth on a RBI single from Pat Robey. Brandon Graves and David Aubrey had RBI singles in the big seventh for the Muleriders, but the Lions also committed two errors that led to three unearned runs in the inning. John Long keyed the four-run eighth with a two-run homer for SAU. The Lions answered with two in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Wheeler and a bases-loaded walk to Hart. After the Muleriders scored a single tally in the top of the ninth, Ezell homered to center to finish out the scoring for Southern. Tyler Lipscomb started for the Lions and lasted six innings, giving up six runs along with six strikeouts. Hayden Simpson got the win for SAU after coming on in relief of starter Adam Anderson and pitching 4 1/3 innings and giving up only two runs. Ezell went 3-5, with three RBI and three runs scored to lead the Lions offensive attack. Next up for the Lions is a home matchup with No. 5-ranked Grand Valley State on Thursday (Mar. 6) with a double-header beginning at 1 p.m.
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