Lions take down No. 5 Gorillas
· Yahoo Sports
No. 5 Pittsburg State University struggled to find the strike zone early in Tuesday's MIAA rivalry at Warren Turner Field as it visited Missouri Southern State University for a battle on the diamond. PSU couldn't overcome pitching woes and lost 14-12.
"We took advantage of it. We made them pay. They really struggled to find the zone, and, you know, really, if we don't give up the six spot, the game's much different and a lot of that's self-inflicted," MSSU head coach Bryce Darnell said.
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The "six spot" he referenced came in the fifth inning when Southern surrendered six runs to the Gorillas to make an 11-1 game 11-7. Without an error that inning, the Lions would have escaped with an 11-3 lead instead.
Another MSSU error occurred in the seventh with two outs. Marcus Young would have had a strikeout of Andrew Branson, but on the dropped third strike that Jacob Filip blocked in the dirt, Filip made an errant throw to first base that pulled Blake Jones off the base and allowed Branson to reach first safe. The Gorillas went on to cut into the deficit again with two runs that inning to make the score 14-10.
"They took advantage of a couple mistakes we made. We didn't make a play at third and then didn't make a good throw when Filly (Filip) blocked the ball and they took advantage of it. You give them extra outs ... they're just such a good offensive team," Darnell said.
The game ultimately came down to the first four innings that saw MSSU draw 10 walks and be hit by three pitches while scoring 11 runs on nine hits.
"We needed ’em, right? They're an extremely offensive team, very powerful team, and we knew we needed every run we could get and it turns out we did," Darnell added.
Southern's first three batters of the game drew walks before Filip picked up a single to score the game's first two runs. In the second inning, with the bases loaded again, Filip singled to score one and made it 4-0. The Lions' catcher started the game 4 for 4 with four singles. He finished 4 for 5 with one hit by pitch.
"Filip had a great weekend and has come on strong. ... Super offensive player, and we knew going into the season he was a player like that and he's starting to swing it like that," Darnell said.
"Just trying to be on time with the fastball and that's what I got all game today," Filip said.
Aiden Hinkle was 0 for 1 at the plate from the top of the lineup while drawing five walks in the game, and he led the Lions with three runs scored. Cy Darnell finished 2 for 6. Jake Leeker was 3 for 6 and led the team with five runs batted in and had a solo home run in the fourth and a two-RBI double in the sixth. He singled in two during the second.
The Lions (23-12, 18-7 MIAA) got four-plus innings from freshman starter Braden Ray. In his first-ever start, he held the top-5 ranked team in the country to just one run in four innings.
"He was great. Man, his first college start. He was great this past weekend, and we really liked what we saw out of him and thought we were going to try him and turns out he was great," Darnell said.
In the fifth, Ray ran into trouble as a batter reached on an error, he surrendered a home run and then a bunt single before being lifted from the game.
He allowed five hits, four runs — three earned — and just one walk while striking out four batters.
MSSU also used Jackson Gamble, Marcus Young and Carter Stover in the game. Young pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing three hits, three runs — all unearned — and struck out four Gorillas. Stover earned the save in two innings of work allowing just two runs.
Southern dropped its first meeting with PSU (28-8, 17-8 MIAA) 12-6 in Pittsburg. The Lions are now fourth in the MIAA standings while the Gorillas are fifth.
Darnell says there is no "getting them back" in this situation when he believes its just "two good teams trying to win a game." And his player seems to be in tune with that thought process.
"It feels good. We know we can put up a fight and win against these guys any given day. It's just taking it day by day and game by game," Filip said.
MSSU beat the fifth-ranked team in Division II and the No. 2 team in the Central Region. It was not featured in the top 10 or "receiving votes" portion of the Central Region rankings on the April 1 polls by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association.
In the newest polls released Wednesday, PSU fell to No. 9 overall but was still second in the region. MSSU did not appear in either rankings.
The Lions head to Emporia, Kansas, next to face the Hornets of Emporia State University, starting a three-game series at 5 p.m. Friday. The other games are scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Gorillas are at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, at 6 p.m. Thursday with games at 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday as well.