ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Griffon Baseball won two games on Saturday, earning Buzz Verduzco his 500^th career victory and advancing to the final four of the MIAA Tournament.
 
Missouri Western eliminated Northwest Missouri with a dominant performance in game one then came from behind to defeat Emporia State and set-up a rematch with the Hornets on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to a winner take all championship game against the winner of Sunday morning's Central Missouri, Washburn game.
 
500 FOR BUZZ
Verduzco earned his 500^th career victory in his 17^th season at Missouri Western. The second head coach in program history is now 41 victories shy of overtaking Doug Minnis as the program's all-time wins leader. He did it with a 6-5 win over Emporia State, his team's third win over the second seeded Hornets in four tries this season. Verduzco became the second Missouri Western coach to earn win No. 500 after softball head coach Jen Bagley Trotter earned her 500^th in February.
 
GAME 2: Missouri Western 6, Emporia State 5
The fourth seeded Griffons handed second seeded Emporia State its first loss of the tournament, coming from behind then holding on for Verduzco's 500^th win.
 
Emporia State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, but the Griffons answered with one in the bottom half on a leadoff home run by Nick Gawley, his second of the day. It was the first of six unanswered runs for the Griffons, capped by a five-run sixth inning.
 
Emporia State scored three in the ninth and had the tying run at third when Conner Schwienebart coaxed a ground ball from Ryan McBroom that allowed a force out at second base to end the game.
 
Preston Bailey picked up the win (5-1), pitching four and a third in relief. He allowed three runs, all earned, and four hits. He struck out six and walked four. Schwienebart picked up his third save of the season and second of the weekend, pitching a perfect two-thirds of an inning. Gawley was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored and his second home run of the day. Orencio Fisher, David Glaude, Kody Matthews, Brandon Downs, Jeremy Alvarado, Alex Heuring and Ozzie Rodriguez had a hit apiece.
 
GAME 1: Missouri Western 12, Northwest Missouri 3
The Griffon bats woke up after being shutout by Central Missouri on Friday night and Richard Peoples turned in a complete game victory as Missouri Western eliminated Northwest Missouri State.
 
Northwest Missouri took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first before Gawley answered with a two-run home run in the second. The Bearcats tied the game in the bottom of the second on a home run by Jake Lewis before Missouri Western scored two in the third to take a 4-2 lead. After another Northwest run in the third, the Griffons rattled off eight unanswered runs.
 
Gawley went 3-6 with three RBIs and three runs scored on two doubles and the home run. Fisher, Glaude and Heuring had two hits apiece. Glaude hit a three-run home run in the ninth had an RBI double in the fourth for a four-RBI game. Peoples limited Northwest Missouri to three runs on eight hits. He struck out four and walked one.