EDMOND, Okla. – Missouri Western baseball (14-31, 12-22 MIAA) kept its MIAA tournament hopes alive with a 7-2 win at Central Oklahoma in a series opening game at Wendell Simmons Field in Edmond Thursday.
Missouri Southern beat Northeastern State in Tahlequah, 4-3, in 10 innings Thursday as well, giving the Griffons a full game lead over the RiverHawks for 10th place in the MIAA standings.
The top 10 teams in the league standings advance to next week's conference tournament in Joplin.
The Griffons, who broke a five-game losing skid, took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth and never trailed after, adding three insurance runs in the seventh and another in the ninth.
Frank Gall and
Kaden Doan each went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Gall,
Blake Vennemann and
Anthony Taggart each scored a pair of runs. Gall and
Jackson Bryant each had a double.
Lynden Bruegman (3-5) earned the win on the mound, going five innings in the start. He struck out five and walked four, giving up just one earned run.
Lou Levy came in to pitch the last four frames, and earned his first save of the season, striking out five and walking just two.
Missouri Western resumes the series on Friday with a 2 p.m. first pitch.