ARKADELPHIA, Ar. – The Missouri Western baseball team picked up their second victory of the season with balanced hitting and solid pitching earning a 9-2 victory over Henderson State Friday.

Missouri Western got on the board in the third inning. Ozzie Rodriguez led off the inning with a single to left field and two batters later got waved around to score when Orencio Fisher singled. The Griffons second run came when Cosimo Cannella singled to right field, scoring Fisher from second.

The Griffons added four more runs in the top of the fourth inning. Jeremy Alvarado tallied his first home run of the season to open the inning. MWSU’s rally was started up again as Rodriguez and Fisher both got on base. David Glaude doubled to left center to score both Rodriguez and Fisher. Cannella got his second hit of the night, scoring Glaude from second. The Griffons took a 6-0 lead to the fifth inning.

Henderson State loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning and eighth inning but couldn’t get a run across the plate in either inning. The Reddies managed to score in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run home run by Jared Gage.

MWSU added one insurance run in the sixth, eighth and ninth inning each. All three runs came from Fisher including his first home run of the season.

Fisher finished the day going 3-for-4, managing to score five runs and record two RBI. Cosimo Cannella had a monster day at the plate, going 5-for-6 and picking up four RBI. Six other Griffons had at least one hit on the day. Pitcher Weston Caindec picked up the win, moving to 1-1 on the season. He went 6.2 innings allowing just four hits and adding four strikeouts.

The Griffons will play two games on Saturday, starting with Ouachita Baptist at 11 a.m. and then Arkansas Tech at 3 p.m. Missouri Western faced off against Arkansas Tech last weekend  in a three-game series.

— MWSU Athletics —