ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — That's one way to take out some frustration for your first triumph. 

Griffon Baseball stacked runs and base knocks all day long against St. Cloud, hounding the Huskies with 20 hits in Friday's 18-1 victory.

Missouri Western went ahead early and went up big. Their top of the third was highlighted by senior Alex Crouch's first home run of the season — a three-run rake over the right field wall. After just three innings, the Griffons led the Huskies 6-0. 

The game was eventually 8-0 in favor of the Griffons when Crouch creamed another pitch over the left-field fence. Junior Hunter Rumachik followed suit immediately with a solo rocket-shot to center, pushing MWSU up 10-0. 

Missouri Western sent 14 batters to the plate in the ninth inning, scoring eight runs on seven singles, one double and two walks by Crouch. The Huskies sent seven pitchers to the rubber with all but three giving up at least one run. Meanwhile, MWSU was led by six solid innings by junior Jordan Akins. 

Another successful state for the Griffons is they walked more times than they struck, drawing nine base-on-balls to just six strikeouts. Missouri Western struck out more than double that with 14 K's against Ouachita Baptist on Thursday, showing signs of the growth at plate.

Box Score

Next Up

Saturday's slate starts early for MWSU, playing Henderson State (5-0) at 11 a.m. in Arkadelphia. This is set to be the Griffons' toughest test yet with Reddies hot off the heels of beating Pittsburg State 13-3 on Friday. The all-time series is split 1-1 after Henderson State's 13-6 win on February 8th, 2019 in Arkadelphia.