WARRENSBURG, Mo. –
Matt Kaiser hit his seven home run of the season, but it would be Northeastern State's lone run as they would see their season end with a 12-1 loss to No. 11 ranked Missouri Southern on the final day of the MIAA Baseball Championship.
Missouri Southern (42-14) advances to the finals Saturday afternoon to see Central Missouri for a winner-take-all championship game.
Kaiser's homer gave the RiverHawks a 1-0 lead after two innings, but the Lions shelled NSU with eight runs in the third and four more in the fourth.
The RiverHawks hit into three double plays, with
Isaiah Keller having two of the team's seven hits.
Seven NSU players saw action for the final time Saturday. Among those were:
Blake Freeman,
Kademon Graff,
Lee Callison,
DeClaudio Irvin,
Brayden Rodden,
Kender Carroll, and
Seth Key.
Freeman had a single in the fourth and closed out a five-year career at NSU as its all-time hits leader with 301 and doubles leader (61).
Grant Parr,
Cadge Wallace, and Carroll all had scoreless relief appearances.
Northeastern State closes its season with a 25-28 overall mark with its second consecutive MIAA Tournament Semifinals appearance.
