TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State baseball team lost 4-1 to Missouri Southern State Saturday afternoon at Rousey Field.
 
The RiverHawks (26-21, 20-17 MIAA) will need to win the series finale Sunday in order to lock up the No. 6 seed in the MIAA Championship. An NSU loss will secure the No. 7 seed for the green and white. The Lions (32-17, 22-16 MIAA) have already been guaranteed the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament that will be contested May 12-15 in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
NSU finished with five hits Saturday, led by two each from seniors Shane Bridges and Eric Kirkpatrick. Junior Dakota Woods scored the lone run for the RiverHawks in the first inning.
 
Junior Daniel Faulk (1-2) lasted 5.1 innings on the mound and suffered the loss after conceding three runs on eight hits. He struck out four and walked one. True freshman James Cowell tossed the final 3.2 frames and gave up just one run on five hits.
 
MSSU starter Cody Hutchinson needed just 105 pitches to throw his second complete game of the season. He allowed just one run on five hits, while striking out five and issuing no walks.
 
Trever Burkdoll tallied three hits from the nine hole for the Lions. Jacob Bryant, Tyler Sutherland, Brett Graham and Matt Smith each had two hits. Sutherland drove in a pair of runs and four different members scored from the visiting team.
 
The regular-season finale will be contested at 2 p.m. May 8. The contest will be Senior Day for the RiverHawks, and the eight student-athletes who will play their final game at home will be honored.
 
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