PITTSBURG, Kan. – No. 4-seeded Pittsburg State got two runs in the sixth to take its first and only lead, defeating the No. 8-seeded Missouri Western baseball team 5-4 Saturday afternoon in the MIAA Championships. The elimination game loss ended the Griffons season with a 21-24 record.

The Griffons led 3-2 headed to the sixth, but the first four Gorillas reached in the sixth, the fourth getting on with a two-RBI single up the middle that gave Pitt State a 4-3 lead. Kellan Richards replaced Jacob Miller with one out and two in scoring position in the sixth, getting two strikeouts to limit the damage.

Pittsburg State scored its fifth run on a Josh Oliver single on an 0-2 pitch with two out in the eighth. The single came off Anthony Castaneda who replaced Richards in the eighth to make his third appearance in as many days in the MIAA postseason tournament.

Andrew Curry’s second hit of the day was an RBI single with two out in the eighth that scored Fahd Shakeel. A strike out and caught stealing executed by Levi Abrahamson and Will Jibas in the top of the ninth helped Abrahamson work around a leadoff single and send MWSU to the plate down just one in the top of the ninth, but the Griffs went down in order in the final frame.

Jibas drove in two in his final game as a Griffon. Shakeel went 2-for4 with a pair of runs scored in his final game. Curry, also a senior, went 2-for-4. Roy Robles got the start and struck out six over three innings, but also walked three and gave up two earned runs on four hits. Miller took the loss, going 2 1/3 and allowing two earned runs on four hits. Richards added to his MWSU career appearances record, going 2 1/3 and allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Castaneda recorded an out and gave up one hit. Abrahamson allowed one hit and now runs in an inning of work.

— MWSU Athletics —