KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Despite lacing a season-high six doubles, Griffon Baseball fell 23-10 to No. 4/13 Missouri Southern on Tuesday in a non-conference matchup at Urban Youth Academy.
Held scoreless in the top of the first, the Lions (28-8) got to work in the second, scoring nine runs off pitchers
Lynden Bruegman and
Caleb Peterson. Down 9-0, Missouri Western quickly got on the board in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a
Kellen Scruggs two-run double to left-center field, scoring
Travis Wiese and
Cale Sackewitz. After scoring one more run in the third, MSSU scored seven in the fourth, building a 17-2 lead.
Missouri Western strung together three runs moments later, with Sackewitz and
Jerry Nix notching RBI doubles to left center.
Brenden Andersen's RBI groundout to shortstop cut the Lions' lead to 17-5, but MSSU had more left in the tank.
Five more Southern runs in the fifth put the Lions up 23-5. One inning later in the sixth,
Mac Biggs smoked a two-run double down the left-field line, plating
Zach Hanlan and
Jhonatan Pena with his first-career hit. A
Halen David double to right-center field brought both Biggs and Nix home, giving
Will Courtney a chance to shoot an RBI double to left, cutting Southern's advantage to 23-10. However, MWSU couldn't break the run-rule disadvantage in the seventh, falling by the same score on neutral turf in Kansas City.
NOTABLES
- Three Griffons recorded two RBI: Biggs; David; and Scruggs.
- Biggs tallied the first and second RBI of his collegiate career on his first base hit as a Griffon.
- Pitcher Matt Kesel made his first appearance of the season, striking out one batter while allotting one hit and one walk.
UP NEXT
Returning to conference play this weekend, Missouri Western (7-25, 4-16 MIAA) begins a three-game series against Northwest Missouri State (7-24. 5-15 MIAA) this Thursday at 3 p.m. in Maryville, Missouri, at Bearcat Baseball Field. The Bearcats recently lost two out of three vs. Newman, falling last Sunday in game three 13-3 in Wichita, Kansas.
