Complete Game Notes in .pdf format here

Storyline
The two-time defending Heart of America Athletic Conference Champions, Lindenwood Lions baseball team will begin its title defense and 2010 season with a road trip to Montgomery, Alabama to take part in the Auburn Montgomery Tournament.

A year ago the Lions finished the season with a 45-12 record and hosted a NAIA Opening Round Tournament. The Lions would go 2-2 in the tourney and would just miss moving onto the NAIA World Series.

Now in 2010 the team will try to improve on a season from a year ago that was one of the best in recent years.

This year's squad has numerous returners, a few youngsters and you can sprinkle in a couple transfers for head coach Doug Bletcher.

Up first for the squad will be a doubleheader against the Faulkner Eagles. A year ago the Eagles were 31-22. The trip to Alabama will conclude with a pair of games against the 23rd ranked Auburn Montgomery Senators.

HAAC Champs
For the second consecutive year the Lions were the HAAC Champs. In 2009 they complied a 32-8 conference record and also won four straight games in the conference tournament to be crowned the tourney champs.

Rankings
The 2009 season ended with the Lions being ranked 15th and at the start of the 2010 season they are ranked 12th which is the highest of any HAAC school.

Road Warriors
The Lions will begin their season with a long 15 game road trip away from the Lou Brock Sports Complex. During the 2009 campaign road games were very friendly to the Lions. The team would go 27-4 which was the best road record in the conference and one of the best in the country.

Toeing The Slab
A year ago Lindenwood had one of the best pitching staffs in the conference and the country. The staff compiled an ERA of 3.38 which ranked them on top of the HAAC and 18th in the entire country. To go along with the stellar ERA, opponents hit only .275 against Lion pitchers.

Stingy With Runs
A season ago the team only allowed 4.2 runs a game which was the best in the conference and ranked 13th in the entire country. In 57 games Lindenwood surrendered one or less runs nine times including four shutouts.

Streaking Lions
Three times a year ago the Lions compiled winning streaks of at least 11 games. At one point in time during the season the team won 27 out of 29 games.

Starting Off Well
In 21 doubleheaders last season the Lions were 18-3 in the first game. Against non-conference opponents the team was 4-0 in game ones.

That Was Offensive
Not only was the pitching staff dominate a season ago, but the offense was almost as dominate. Lion hitters ranked first in the HAAC in six different categories starting with batting average (.335), slugging percentage (.496), runs scored (7.88), hits per game (9.9) doubles (123) and homeruns (45).

Piling Up The Runs
Scoring runs was not a problem for the team a year ago, outscoring their opponents 449-239. The team scored more overall runs than their opponents in every inning but one. The fifth inning was especially good for the Lions as they outscored opponents 67-14 in the inning.

Frank Corpus Is Back
The senior from West Covina, California is back for his final season after being named to the first team all-conference in 2009. Corpus hit .317 with five homeruns and 39 RBIs last season.

Returning All-Haac
The Lions return three members of all-conference teams from last season. Corpus was named to the first team and Cristobal Rodriguez (SS) and Justin Lamar (2B) were named to the honorable mention squad. Rodriguez hit .301 and Lamar hit .372 in 2009.

Doubling Digits
In 18 games last season they scored double digit runs. In a game against Avila the Lions piled up 18 runs which was the most in a game. At one point in the season the squad scored 10+ runs in seven straight games.

Going The Distance
In 2009 the Lindenwood starting pitchers combined for nine complete games. Departed senior Kyle Boschert led the way with four.

Keeping Teams In The Park
The Lion offense hit 17 more homeruns than their opponents during the season. The pitching staff's 28 homeruns surrendered was the fewest of any team in the HAAC.

Scouting Faulkner
A year ago the Eagles were 33-22 overall and were 16-11 in SSAC play. During the 2009 season Faulkner ranked 7th in the country in homeruns per game (1.72) and were ninth in batting average (.356). At the helm of the program is first year head coach Patrick McCarthy who was previously the head coach at Freed-Hardeman.

Scouting Auburn-Montgomery
In 2009 the Auburn Montgomery Senators finished with a 37-23 overall record and finished fourth in the SSAC with a record of 18-9. The Senators are led by head coach Q.V. Lowe who is entering his 24th season at the helm.

Up Next
After a four game trip to Alabama the Lions will travel once again, this time to Oklahoma. Bacone College will be the opponent for a three game series.