EMPORIA, Kan. — The 11th-ranked Missouri Southern baseball team set a school record for strikeouts in a game as the Lions had a thrilling 12-inning 2-0 win at Emporia State today.
The Southern (22-7, 13-3 MIAA) pitchers struck out 21 batters in the game with Zach Parish striking out 14 of his own in the start. The performance breaks the previous record set in 1991 when Tim Luther struck out 20 batters himself in a game against Central Missouri. That mark is the individual single-game mark.
Parish went eight innings, scattering six hits with zero walks. River Wright pitched a scoreless ninth with a strikeout, while Austin DesRoche started the tenth and got a strikeout before allowing back-to-back hits. Logan VanWey then came in and after a walk, struck out back-to-back batters to get out of the jam. Cam Bednar threw a hitless pair of innings, striking out three batters in the process to move to 2-0 on the season.
Troy Gagan went 3-for-5 with a walk and an RBI, while Freddie Landers had a pair of hits. Dexter Swims, Matt Miller, Jon Leighton and Cole McBride had a hit each. Swims had a walk and an RBI, as well.
Emporia State (17-10, 11-5 MIAA) had three with two hits each. Tanner Cairns started for the Hornets and went ten scoreless innings, striking out eight.
Both teams were scoreless until the 12th when Mike Million walked to lead off the inning. Million was sacrificed over by Alex Phillips and Leighton walked to put batters at first and second. McBride singled through the left side to load the bases, before Swims walked to drive in Million for the first run and Gagan walked to drive in Leighton for run number two.
With the win, the Lions have extended their lead in the MIAA to two games over Central Missouri and ESU.
