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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Joplin, Mo. - Juan Hernandez went 5-6 with three runs driven in to lead the Missouri Southern Lions to a doubleheader sweep of the Fort Hays State Tigers Saturday afternoon (Mar. 21) at Joe Becker Stadium. The Lions won the opener 4-3 and the nightcap 7-4. The Lions trailed the first game 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, but scored a pair of runs to take the lead. Trent Owens got things going with a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second by Shayne Hoke. Owens went to third when Justin Beal reached on an error and then advanced to second. Hernandez then came through with a two-run single down the left field line that scored the go-ahead runs. The Lions scored first in the opener when Beal struck out but reached first base on a wild pitch with two out. Beal scored the first run of the game when Hernandez hit a well-placed RBI double to right field. Hays tied the score in the third after Alex Harvey reached on an error to begin the inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nash Smith. Zach Caldwell helped the Lions take the lead in the bottom of the inning by leading off with a single and then crossing the plate on an RBI single by Derek Ezell that made it 2-1. The Tigers again tied the score on a sacrifice fly from from Greg Bieker in the fourth and then grabbed the lead on a run-scoring double by Brett Becker in the fifth inning. Carter Lance pitched the full seven innings for the Lions to earn the victory. Lance allowed only one earned run and struck out six. Caldwell got the Lions (15-11, 8-5 MIAA) going by leading off the bottom of the first with a single and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Ezell for a 1-0 Lion lead. The Lions scored two more runs in the fourth when Owens hit a lead-off single, went to second on an infield single from Hernandez and then scored on an RBI double by Beal. Hernandez scored the Lions' second run of the inning on a wild pitch that put Southern up 3-0. Southern scored again in the fifth when an infield single by Owens plated Skyler Rawlins for a four-run advantage. The Tigers (14-15, 6-9 MIAA) still had some fight in them by scoring four runs in the sixth that featured RBI doubles by Ryan Majercik and Brennan Peterson. Peterson scored the tying run with two out on a wild pitch. But the Lions had the final answer in the bottom of the sixth when Hernandez got the inning started with an infield single and moved to second when Caldwell was hit by a pitch with two outs. After Rawlins loaded the bases with an infield single, Jake Taylor cleared the bases with a three-run triple that gave the Lions a 7-4 lead. Kevin Humphrey, who came on in relief of starter Garrett Groom, got the win in 1 1/3 innings of work with two strikeouts. Groom pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up two earned runs and had four strikeouts. The Lions will go for the series win over the Tigers with a single game beginning tomorrow (Mar. 22) at noon.
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