JOPLIN, Mo. — Riding the emotions of last night's heartbreaker in extra innings, Griffon Baseball bounced back and extinguished their four-game losing streak with a 10-5 win over Truman State to conclude the MIAA/GLVC Crossover.
The Bulldogs built an early 2-0 lead through the first five innings, but the Griffons held tight thanks to solid pitching by Jeremy Schneider. Despite giving up two home runs and four earned runs, Schneider tossed seven innings and struck out five Truman batters. Had Schneider only gone five innings, MWSU would've been fine thanks to a flammable top of the fifth.
The Griffons grabbed the lead with one swing of the bat by Noah Wenger, waylaying a three-run home run and his second of 2022 to go up 3-2. Riley Higgins drew an RBI walk, Brady Holden scored on one of Truman's five errors and Zach Hanlan hammered an RBI double to left to score Higgins. After five, MWSU was up 7-1.
A solo crank by Alex Crouch in the eighth helped keep Missouri Western firmly in control. It's Crouch's fourth homer of the season, tying him with three others for first in the MIAA. Meanwhile, the MWSU pitching staff struck out nine Bulldogs, including the final three outs of the game.
Next Up
There's no place like home. The Griffons (2-7) gear up for opening day and conference play. Missouri Western begins with a three-game series against the University of Central Oklahoma (5-3) starting on Friday at 3 p.m at the Griffon Baseball Field. The Bronchos took April 25, 2021's matchup 6-5 in Edmond, Oklahoma, and have won the last three games vs. MWSU.
