ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Griffon Baseball (25-22, 18-16 MIAA) defeated No. 9 Rogers State 10-2 to open a three-game series on a cool Thursday night in St. Joseph.
With the win, MoWest secures its first winning season since 2018 and scores its first win over a top 10 opponent at home since February 21, 2015 vs. No. 4 Emporia State.
The Griffs jumped on the Hillcats (37-11, 25-9 MIAA) early, leading 2-0 after the second – highlighted by a solo homer from
Luke Shannahan.
MoWest added more with a three-run bomb from
Miguel Cantu in the third, making it 5-0 at that point.
RSU was limited to just three hits offensively. MoWest added insurance with three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Another home run came off the bat of
Seth Winkler in the seventh – a two-run blast to dead center.
Micah Kobuszewski did his part as well, going 3-for-4 with a team-best four runs scored. Winkler, the reigning MIAA Hitter of the Week, went 3-for-5 with a team-best four RBIs. Shannahan was 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
Cam Saleh (4-3), the reigning MIAA Pitcher of the Week, followed up last Saturday's no-hitter with a seven-inning gem, allowing just a single hit and run in a 107-pitch effort. He struck out three and walked three.
Lawson Minshew tossed the last two innings, retiring the Hillcats in order in the ninth.
MoWest resumes the series with Rogers State on Friday at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) and available to stream on the MIAA Network.
