JOPLIN, Mo. — The No. 21 ranked Missouri Southern baseball team got four RBIs from Matt Miller and a gem of a game from Zac Shoemaker as the Lions defeated Pittsburg State, 8-4 today on Warren Turner Field.
The Lions (30-16, 21-9 MIAA) win their 30th game of the season and for the sixth time in coach Bryce Darnell’s career, win 30 games in a season.
Matt Miller went 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBIs and two runs scored. Troy Gagan went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run, while Jon Leighton had two hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Denver Coffee had a hit and a pair of runs scored, while Dexter Swims had a hit and a run, as well. Davin Gummere and Mike Million each had a hit, while Million added a late RBI.
Shoemaker started and went seven and two-thirds of an inning, striking out nine and allowing just three earned runs to move to 6-2 on the season. Bradly Hershey and Joey Reeves held the Gorillas scoreless, while Logan VanWey came in with the bases-loaded in the ninth and threw a three-pitch strikeout to get his second save of the year.
Pitt (25-18, 17-13 MIAA) got three hits from Ty Herrenbruck and two from Caleb Cox.
The Lions got a three-run homer from Miller in the first, before Pitt got two runs in the second and a single-run in the third to tie it up at three going into the bottom of the third.
Miller singled home Coffee to break the tie in the third, before Gagan singled home both Leighton and Miller to put the Lions up 6-3. Leighton added a homer in the fifth to put the Lions up 7-3, before Pitt got a single run in the eighth. Million added an RBI single to score Gagan in the eighth.
Southern will be back in action on Tuesday as the Lions will head to Topeka to take on Washburn in non-conference action. First-pitch is slated for 3 pm.
