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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Joplin, Mo. - CJ Maffei won his team-leading seventh game of the season in a complete game masterpiece to lead the Missouri Southern Lions to a 5-1 victory in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon (Apr. 11) at Joe Becker Stadium. The Gorillas took the opener 4-1, but the Lions won the four-game series by a count of three games to one. The nightcap was scoreless until Justin Beal doubled with two out in the fourth and scored on an RBI single from Shayne Hoke. The Lions added another run in the fifth as Kenny Hart hit a lead-off triple and then crossed the plate on a double by Zach Caldwell to make it 2-0. Juan Hernandez then doubled to begin the sixth and scored on a two-out homer from Trent Owens that put the Lions ahead by four runs. Hernandez scored the Lions' fifth run in the eighth by leading off with a single and later scoring on an error after Hoke reached on an infield single. The Gorillas' scored their lone run in the ninth when Austin Kirkwood started the inning with a double and scored on a run-scoring single by Jason Murphy. Maffei was outstanding, allowing only one run and striking out 10 to improve to 7-3 on the season. Hernandez, Beal and Hoke each had two hits in the win for the Lions. The opener didn't start well for the Lions as the Gorillas scored three times in the first on a two-run single by Murphy, who later scored an unearned tally that made it 3-0 in favor of PSU. The Lions (26-14, 18-8 MIAA) fought back in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own as Skyler Rawlins got on with an infield single and scored on a base hit by Jacob Taylor after reaching second on an error. Kirkwood made it 4-1 for the Gorillas (10-28, 7-17 MIAA) after leading off the third with a double and scoring on a sacrifice fly by John Chaisson. The run in the first was all the Lions could muster against PSU starter Tim Brown, who went the full seven innings with no walks and four strikeouts to run his record to a team-best 6-3 this season. The Lions' next game is a non-conference tilt with Missouri S&T on Tuesday night (Apr. 15) at 6 p.m. at Joe Becker Stadium.
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