ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western baseball team started off their final regular season series with a split against Northwest Missouri State. MWSU took game one with a 3-2 win and dropped the second game 2-1.
Game 1 – MWSU 3, Northwest 2
Missouri Western earned the first win of the series in exciting fashion with a 3-2 victory.
The Griffons were first on the board in the second inning as they managed to get three runs on three hits and two errors.
Cosimo Cannella started off the second inning with a double down the right field line. David Glaude singled to the pitcher and eventually advanced to second and put Cannella on third.
Zach Taylor hit a sac fly to left field to score Cannella from third, scoring the Griffons first run of the ball game. Glaude advanced to third on a pass ball and senior Michael Yeager singled to right field to pick up the RBI. Yeager worked himself around the bases to score on a wild pitch to score the third run.
Northwest Missouri scored one run in the fourth inning and one in the seventh inning.
Banks Born moved his record to 6-1 on the season. He went six innings, allowing eight hits and struck out five batters.
Game 2 – Northwest 2, MWSU 1
The Griffons and Bearcats got into a pitching battle in the second game with A.J. Martinez and Joseph Hietpas on the mound. Both teams were held scoreless until the top of the seventh inning when the Bearcats scored two runs.
Nick Gotta was the Bearcats first runner on base when he was walked by Martinez. Two batters later, Paul Johnson came up with a huge two out single to centerfield. Steven Garber singled to centerfield and eventually advanced to second on an error by centerfielder Ryan Degner. The error allowed two-runs to score.
The Griffons only run came from Cosimo Cannella in the bottom of the seventh inning when he hit his fifth home run of the season.
A.J. Martinez suffered his first loss of the season and now has a record of 4-1 on the season.
Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri State will wrap up their four-game series Friday with a doubleheader that begins at 5:00 p.m.
— MWSU Sports Information —