Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Lindenwood baseball team split its doubleheader with Fort Hays on Saturday falling in game one 7-6 before winning 14-0 in game two.

The Lions jumped on the board in the first inning of game one that started with a two-out single by Mike Failoni.  Marshall Vallandingham followed up with a single of his own and both runners scored on a double down the right field line by Mike Wilson to put the Lions up 2-0.  Fort Hays responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game.

The Tigers scored another run in the bottom of the second to take the lead 3-2.  Lindenwood tied the game in the top of the fourth with a run scored by Ryan Light off of a Zach Kurzejeski single thru the left side of the infield.  The Lions grabbed the lead in the top of the fifth inning again started by Failoni, this time via base on balls.  Failoni moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a Vallandingham single in which Vallandingham advanced to second on the throw home. 

Wilson laid down a sacrifice bunt to push Vallandingham to third base with two outs.  Nathan Prindle drove in Vallandingham on a single to left field and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Light hit the left-center gap for a double to bring in Prindle and give the Lions a 6-3 lead after the top of the fifth.  Fort Hays took back the lead in the bottom of the inning with four runs on just two hits and two Lindenwood errors.  The Lions could not produce any runs for the rest of the game and fell 7-6 in game one.

Game two featured a great pitching performance by Zac Pearman and saw lots of runs produced by the Lions.  Lindenwood scored its first run in the top of the third inning when Ben Coudret drove in Nick Kolley on a single thru the left side.  The Lions poured the runs on in the top of the fourth to build on their slim lead.  Failoni started the inning with a double to left center and moved to third on a Vallandingham single up the middle.

Wilson laid down a squeeze to score Failoni and place Vallandingham on second.  Wade Rothermich singled to drive in Vallandingham and then stole second base to keep the pressure on Fort Hays.  Kurzejeski hit a single to bring in Rothermich and was able to move all the way to third base due to a fielding error by the Tigers.  The final run of the inning was scored by Kurzejeski after a balk by the Tigers pitcher which gave Lindenwood a 5-0 lead after four innings of play.

Lindenwood added two more runs in the top of the fifth that was started by none other than Failoni.  After the Failoni single, Vallandingham doubled down the right field line to move Failoni to third with one out.  Failoni crossed the plate on a balk by the Fort Hays pitcher and Vallandingham scored on a wild pitch to extend the Lions lead to 7-0.

The Lions put the game away in the top of the eighth inning with a big inning that started with Rothermich being hit by a pitch.  Kolley grounded out to the pitcher, but it allowed for Rothermich to move to second.  Kurzejeski singled to push Rothermich to third and Eddie Sutton walked to load the bases.  Coudret reached on an infield single to score Rothermich and all runners were safe.  Jerry Roam hit a single through the infield to bring in Kurzejeski and again all runners were safe to keep the bases loaded.  The Lions went ahead by double digits after Failoni hit a two-RBI single down the left field line scoring Coudret and Sutton.  After a pitching change Vallandingham hit a double to right field that drove in Roam and moved Failoni to third base.  With two outs Rothermich hit a two-RBI double down the left field line to score Failoni and Vallandingham and gave the Lions a 14-0 lead.

Pearman went the distance to earn his complete game shutout victory.  The Tigers put up nine hits but Pearman was too tough and kept all runners stranded as he struck out three batters and did not allow any walks.  The Failoni-Vallandingham combo accounted for 17 hits, five doubles, and six RBI in the four-game series.  Failoni also crossed the plate six times while Vallandingham scored five times over the weekend.

The Lions are now 16-27 on the year with a 13-19 mark in conference play.  Lindenwood will cross the river to play Maryville University on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in St. Louis, Mo.