The Lindenwood baseball team fell 5-2 in game one but came back in game two with a 9-3 win over Northeastern State on Sunday.

In game one the Lions defense was strong in the first three innings of work.  The RiverHawks led off the game with back-to-back singles, but a groundball to Nathan Prindle resulted in a double play and Austin Klein finished the inning with a strikeout.  Klein added two more strikeouts in the second inning and Ryan Light made a diving stop to end the third inning and keep the game tied at 0-0.

In the bottom of the third Zac Perkins led off with a double down the right field line.  Austin Holtgrieve moved Perkins to third base on a sacrifice bunt.  Prindle continues to pound the ball as he drove in Perkins on a hard hit single over the shortstops head.  Wade Rothermich followed with a hard hit ball past the first baseman allowing Prindle to get to third.  Rothermich moved to second on wild pitch and Prindle crossed the plate to put the Lions up 2-0.  The Lions had bases loaded later in the inning but could not capitalize and remained ahead by two runs.

Lindenwood had runners on second and third in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out but could not add any runs.  Northeastern State started the top of the sixth with back-to-back hits to put two RiverHawks in scoring position.  Klein was able to get a groundball to Light but his throw home was a bit off the mark and the RiverHawks were on the board.  The next batter hit a single to left field to bring in the tying run with still no outs.

The Lions allowed three more runs on a fielder's choice, wild pitch, and a single to fall behind 5-2 after the top of the sixth.  In the bottom of the seventh Mike Wilson led off with a hit by pitch and moved to second on a bunt single by Wes Degener.  The following three batters went down swinging as the RiverHawks again came from behind to defeat the Lions.

Game two was a rocky start for the Lions as Geoff Hartlieb found himself in a bases loaded jam with only one out in the first inning.  Again the Lions defense turned an inning-ending double play to keep the RiverHawks from scoring.  Northeastern State scored one run in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead.

The Lions responded with a big third inning as Perkins was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a throwing error by the pitcher to put two runners on base.  Prindle drew a walk and Rothermich hit a grand slam just inside the right field foul pole to put the Lions up 4-1.  Michael Bibbs hit a triple past the diving centerfielder but was thrown out at home on two batters later.  Wilson singled to drive in Quinones and moved Light to third bases.  With Wilson stealing second it forced a throw down to second and allowed Light to steal home and gave Lindenwood a 6-1 lead after three innings of play.

Hartlieb had a quick 1-2-3 inning in the fourth allowing for the offense to keep momentum heading into the bottom frame.  Degener was able to leg out a single and moved to second on a Prindle single through the left side of the infield.  Rothermich reached on a fielder's choice as Prindle was out on the play.  Two batters later Quinones hit a double down the right field line to score Degener.  The Lions added two more runs on an error by the RiverHawks right fielder that allowed for Rothermich and Quinones to score and extend the Lions lead to 9-1.  Northeastern State scored just two more runs in the game as the Lions held on for the 9-3 victory in game two.

With the split the Lions move to 7-13 on the year and 1-6 in the MIAA.  The Lions will complete their four-game series with Northeastern State on Monday starting at 3 p.m. at the Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles, Mo.