JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Southern State University officials are working to help cover medical expenses for the family of a 7-year-old who was severely injured while watching a baseball game.

The Joplin Globe reports that Dawson Hirshey of Diamond was struck in the head by a line-drive foul ball Friday while sitting in the stands at Joe Becker Stadium.

University spokeswoman Cassie Mathes says Dawson was immediately taken to a Joplin hospital and later transferred to a children’s hospital in Kansas City, where he underwent brain surgery. She says the boy’s mother is a university employee.

University administrators will visit the family at the hospital.

Mathes says the school wants to find the best way to financially support the family.