RUSSELVILLE, Ark. – The Missouri Western baseball team opened its 2015 season on Friday and split a doubleheader at No. 17 Arkansas Tech. ATU took the first game 5-4 and the Griffons won 9-6 after a six run seventh inning in the second game.

GAME 1: MWSU 4, Arkansas Tech 5 (10 innings)

Errors hurt Missouri Western in a 10 inning loss at No. 17 Arkansas Tech in the first game of a four-game series Friday afternoon.

Bryan Heward scored the winning run on a throwing error by Josh Lansangan. Heward singled with no one out and one on, then reached second on an error earlier in the inning. Seth Wheeler’s bunt single sent Heward to third and the throwing error put him across the plate. Leading 4-3 heading to the bottom half of the 10th, MWSU committed two errors, had a wild pitch and walked one batter to help the Arkansas Tech effort.

Missouri Western jumped out to a 3-0 lead on David Glaude’s two-out, two-run home in the third. The Wonder Boys added two in the fifth and one in the eighth to tie the game at three. Missouri Western wouldn’t score again until Michael Yeager’s bunt single with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the 10th gave MWSU the 4-3 lead.

Lansangan took the loss allowing one hit and recoding no outs. Grant Woods pitched 5.1 innings, allowing six hits and two runs, while striking out two. Trevor LaHonta and Brandon Downs both went 2-5 with Glaude recording two RBI.

GAME 2: MWSU 9, Arkansas Tech 6 (7 innings)

The Griffons Ryan Degner blasted a home run in the first inning to put MWSU up 1-0. Arkansas Tech answered right back with a home run themselves to even the score at 1-1 heading into the second.

Both teams were held scoreless in the second and third inning before Arkansas Tech was able to string together four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to move the score to 5-1. The Griffons contributed two crucial errors to allow four unearned runs.

MWSU was able to get two runs in the top of the 5th inning when Cosimo Cannella doubled to left center to bring in both Orencio Fisher and Cody Childs. Arkansas Tech added one more run in the bottom of the sixth to bring the score to 6-3.

The Griffon bats came alive in the top of the seventh inning in a huge way. MWSU was able to collect six runs in the inning after getting six hits. Missouri Western held the lead in the bottom half of the seventh to finish the game 9-6.

Cosimo Cannella finished the game with three hits and four RBI’s. The Griffons Cody Childs went 2-3 and tallied two RBI’s in the victory. AJ Martinez got the win for the Griffons and Richard Peoples recorded his first save of the year.

Missouri Western will be back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to play another double-header against #17 Arkansas Tech.

— MWSU Sports Information —