Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Northeastern State baseball team split the final two games of a weekend MIAA series with Missouri Southern State Saturday afternoon at Joe Becker Stadium.
 
The Lions (21-19, 15-17 MIAA) won the first game 6-5, but the RiverHawks (19-21, 15-17 MIAA) captured the finale 8-6 to win the series three games to one.
 
NSU and MSSU moved into a tie for ninth place in the current MIAA standings. The top eight teams in the league qualify for the 2014 MIAA Championship, and the two programs currently sit 1.5 games away from Washburn (16-15) and Northwest Missouri State (15-14).
 
MISSOURI SOUTHERN STATE 6, NORTHEASTERN STATE 5 (box score)
The home team jumped out to a 5-1 lead and used a walkoff hit in the bottom of the seventh to win its first game of the series.
 
Axel Johnson touched home in the bottom of the second for the first run of the game, but senior outfielder Cody Robinson tied the score in the top of the fourth with his second home run of the series and 12th of the season.
 
Missouri Southern State then plated four runs in the home half of the fourth and carried the 5-1 advantage all the way until the final frame.
 
NSU's comeback began when redshirt freshman Caleb Hill doubled down the left field line to lead off the frame and senior Kyle Singleton followed by reaching base on an error. Senior Mitch Stevenson loaded the bases after getting hit by a pitch, and fellow senior Ryan Staggs cut the lead in half with a single that plated Hill and Singleton.
 
Sophomore Cody Begovich then singled to score Stevenson, and a sacrifice fly from Robinson scored junior Braden Brown to tie the game.
 
The first two batters of the bottom of the seventh were sat down, but Dusty Harper hit a two-out double and scored on a single up the middle from Mitchell Osburn to win the game.
 
MSSU outhit NSU 11-8 and was led by two each from Logan Moon, Johnson and Osburn. Stephen Vaughn (2-2) recorded the victory after relieving starter Ryan Bates in the final frame and minimizing the damage. Bates tossed 6.0 innings and gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits. He struck out five and walked one.
 
Junior Kyle Shambaugh struggled on the mound for NSU, lasting just 3.2 innings. He allowed five runs on five hits, walking four and striking out just one. Juniors Hayden Walch and Waylon Davis quieted the Lion bats for the next 2.1 innings, but fellow junior Bryan McClellan (4-4) came on in the seventh and gave up the game-winning run.
 
No RiverHawk had more than one hit or scored more than once. Robinson led with two runs batted in.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE 8, MISSOURI SOUTHERN STATE 6 (box score)
The series swung in favor of the visitors following some late-inning tallies. NSU scored four in the second to take the early lead, but a six-run fourth put the home team on top.
 
That would be the only production for Missouri Southern State, however, and the RiverHawks found a way to scatter four runs in the final five frames to secure the series victory.
 
The four runs in the second came on a pair of singles, a bases-loaded walk and an infield groundout. Senior David Weber, Hill, Staggs, and junior Tyler Wilkins all scored in the inning.
 
The Lions plated six runs in the fourth with just one out to chase NSU junior starter Cayle Shambaugh. True freshman Zack Hammock relieved Shambaugh and was able to minimize the damage by striking out the next two batters to end the threat.
 
Hill scored on a wild pitch in the fifth, and both Hill and Weber scored in the top of the seventh to flip the lead to the visiting squad. Wilkins brought home Weber in the top of the ninth for some insurance, and the Lions could not respond in the final frame.
 
Hill and Staggs both finished with three hits. Staggs drove home two and both Hill and Weber scored three times. Wilkins finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored. NSU outhit MSSU 12-6.
 
Shambaugh conceded all six runs and all six hits in 3.1 innings. He struck out three and walked two. Hammock (3-0), senior Addison Williams, junior Seth Hudson, and Walch combined to not allow another hit in the final 5.2 innings. Hammock earned the win and Walch collected his second save of the season.
 
MSSU's offensive production was scattered throughout its lineup. Matt Smith and Osburn both finished with two RBI.
 
Matt Harvey started for the Lions and gave up five runs (three earned) on seven hits in 4.2 innings. Drew Noble (4-4) was saddled with the loss after allowing two runs on three hits across the next 2.0 frames. Kanon Hoover and Vaughn combined to close out the game.
 
NSU will take the midweek off before traveling to Bolivar, Mo., for a four-game set with Southwest Baptist beginning April 17.
 
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