ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Northeastern State baseball team swept a pair of games over Lindenwood Friday afternoon at Lou Brock Complex.
 
The RiverHawks (25-20, 19-16 MIAA) officially clinched a spot in the 2016 MIAA Championship, which will be held May 12-15 in St. Charles. NSU also eliminated the Lions (21-26, 15-21 MIAA) from playoff contention in the process on their Senior Day.
 
Northeastern State can now finish as high as fifth in the league but no lower than eighth heading into the final weekend of play.
 
Lindenwood entered the day with the series lead after topping the green and white 11-4 in Thursday's opener, but the RiverHawks earned victories of 8-5 and 3-1 margins to come from behind and win their second road series of the season.
 
NSU will return home for the final three games of the regular season as the team jockeys for playoff positioning. The RiverHawks will play host to Missouri Southern State May 6-8 at Rousey Field.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE 8, LINDENWOOD 5
The home team jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead after just two innings of play, but the RiverHawks shut down the Lions offense for the remainder of the game save for one solo home run in the seventh.
 
Senior Shane Bridges hit a two-run bomb in the fifth to cut Lindenwood's lead down to 4-3, and that jumpstarted NSU's offense as the visitors went on to plate seven runs in the final five innings.
 
Bridges finished 2-for-4 with three runs batted in from his leadoff spot. Senior Cody Begovich was 3-for-5 with a pair of runs driven in, while redshirt freshman Zane Takhar went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Junior Dakota Woods also tallied a pair of hits.
 
True freshman Zach Parish (6-2) threw his first-career complete game to earn the win on the mound. He allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits, while striking out 11 and walking just two. He now has 94 K's this season and continues to lead the MIAA in that category.
 
His counterpart Connor Law (6-2) lasted just 6.2 frames and conceded six runs on nine hits. He only struck out three and issued four walks. Geoff Hartlieb was called upon to finish the game, and he allowed two more runs on three hits in 2.1 innings.
 
Nathan Prindle continued to give the RiverHawks fits, as he went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and three runs scored, but he was the only member of the home team with multiple hits. Wes Degener led off the game with a home run and scored twice, and Mike Ehrhard tallied two RBI.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE 3, LINDENWOOD 1
Neither team wanted to let go of the series, and it was Lindenwood who would be the team that succumbed to the pressure.
 
The two sides stood deadlocked at 1-1 through seven innings in the finale, and NSU finally broke the tie when Bridges scored what would be the game-winning run with one out in the top of the eighth. He led off the frame with a triple and later scored on an RBI single from senior Eric Kirkpatrick.
 
Begovich laced a two-out triple to right center in the top of the ninth and added an insurance run on an RBI single from senior Jamie Graeser for the final score of the day.
 
Begovich and Graeser hit from the eight and nine holes, and they powered the RiverHawks bats with five of the team's nine hits. Bridges added two from the leadoff position.
 
LWU mustered just eight hits, with two each coming from Prindle and Ryan Sosnowski.
 
Junior Daniel Faulk tossed the first six innings and left with a no-decision after conceding just one run on five hits. Junior Zach Poehl (4-1) threw three innings of shutout relief to pick up his fourth win of the season. He allowed three hits and walked one.
 
Brendan Kleekamp (3-3) lasted eight innings for Lindenwood but was tagged with the loss after giving up two runs on seven hits. Jevon Boyd threw the ninth and allowed one run on two hits.

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