|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern Lions hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and went on to defeat the Fort Hays State Tigers 6-4 Sunday afternoon (Mar. 22) at Joe Becker Stadium. The Lions took three out of four games from the Tigers in the four-game series. The Lions trailed 4-2 when Kenny Hart singled with one out and came around to score on Zach Caldwell's game-tying two-run homer. Skyler Rawlins followed that by giving the Lions the lead with a blast to left field. Jacob Taylor then made it three straight with a shot to right center that put the Lions up 6-4. The combination of starter CJ Maffei and reliever Corey Wells made the lead hold up by holding the Tigers scoreless over the final four innings. Derek Ezell got Southern on the board with a towering homer in the second inning that put the Lions up 1-0. The Tigers (14-16, 6-10 MIAA) jumped on top in the third on an RBI groundout by Alex Harvey and consecutive RBI doubles from Greg Crowe and Dusty Washburn for a 3-1 lead. Greg Bieker then doubled to lead off the fourth for Hays and scored on a run-scoring single by AJ Levanduski for the Tigers' fourth run of the game. The Lions (16-11, 9-5 MIAA) cut the lead to two runs when Rawlins started the bottom of the fourth with a single and scored on an RBI single from Juan Hernandez. Maffei overcame a shaky start to improve to 4-3 on the season with the victory. Maffei pitched seven innings and allowed four runs, but none in his final three innings of work. He also had 10 strikeouts. Wells worked the final two innings to pick up his second save of the season. The Tigers entered the series with an MIAA-leading 39 homers, but the Lions' pitching staff held the Tigers homerless over the four-game series. The Lions will next play a non-conference tilt at Drury on Wednesday afternoon (Mar. 25) at 3 p.m. in Springfield, Mo.
|