The Missouri Western baseball team got a walk off single by senior outfielder David Chew advancing them to the final four of the MIAA Tournament next weekend in Springfield, Mo. Chew singled in Cody Childs in the bottom of the 10th giving the Griffons the 5-4 victory over Southwest Baptist. With the victory the Griffons improve to 30-18 on the season.
Missouri Western jumped on top early, taking a 1-0 lead after the first inning of play. Cody Childs homered down the left field line helping the Griffons strike first. The Bearcats responded in the second, plating two runs taking a 2-1 lead. Ross Wolfe and Chance Wolfe led the inning off with back-to-back singles. After a Missouri Western error put the runners on second and third, Zach Pirrello doubled to right field to put SBU on top. The Bearcats added to their lead in the third when Jake Vore scored on a Ross Wolfe fielder’s choice to extend the lead to 3-1.
The Griffons responded right back in the bottom half of the inning with two runs tying the game at 3-3. The Griffons got RBI hits from Chew and Will Carter in the inning which scored Childs and Chew.
Both the Bearcats and the Griffons settled down, with no runs being scored over the next three innings. The Bearcats broke the tie in the top of the seventh when Tyler Hampton singled home Bo Helsel to give SBU a 4-3 lead. Missouri Western responded right back, knotting the game up at 4-4 on an RBI double by Trevor LaHonta scoring Jake Schrader.
The game would go to extra innings and in the bottom of the 10th, Childs singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch setting him up to score on the Chew single giving the Griffons the victory.
The Griffons had 12 hits with Childs going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and Chew going 3-for-5 with one run scored and two RBI. Mason Queen picked up the victory going three innings in relief giving up just one hit with two strikeouts. He improved to 4-4 with the victory.
The Griffons will take on the winner of the University of Central Missouri and Northeastern State series on Thursday, May 8 in Springfield, Mo. First pitch is scheduled for 11 am.
Southwest Baptist had 15 hits with Pirrello going 3-for-5. Sam Vergara got the loss going three innings giving up four hits and one earned run. He falls to 5-2 on the season.
The Bearcats concluded the most successful season in school history, coming away with the most wins and MIAA wins ever. SBU also advanced to their first MIAA Tournament since the 1999. SBU finished the season with a 29-24 record while finishing 24-15 in the MIAA.
— MWSU Sports Information —