The Lindenwood baseball team will open up MIAA play with a three-game series against No. 20 Missouri Southern in Joplin, Mo.
 
Last Week
The Lions returned home this past Saturday with a 4-0 record, and looked to sweep the Vikings from Augustana (S.D.) in a three-game series.  Lindenwood opened up the weekend with a 10-7 win in game one, but failed to sweep the doubleheader, and fell 12-7 in the second game.  After a four-hour game on Sunday, the Vikings came out with the victory in a 13-9 ball game to take the season series.
 
In game one, Lindenwood jumped out to an early 5-1 lead after the first two innings.  Augustana took the lead in the top of the fifth after a four-run inning made it a 6-5 Augustana lead.  The Lions regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run inning, and Lindenwood did not look back and it held on for a 10-7 win.  Nathan Prindle went 2-for-4 in the game with a homerun, one double, and three RBI.  Mike Ehrhard drove in three runs on one double, and Austin Meine tallied his first win in 1.2 innings with one strikeout.
 
In the second game, Augustana was the team that jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning of play.  The Lions struggled to put together any big innings, as Wes Degener and Drew Quinones were the only Lindenwood hitters with two hits.  Ryan Sosnowski drove in a game-high two runs, but the Vikings offense was too much, as the Lions fell 12-7 in the second game.
 
On Sunday, each team scored five runs in the first inning after nearly an hour of play.  The two teams traded runs in the second inning as well, and the Lion took the lead in the bottom of the third when Jackson Fuller scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Paulda.  Augustana put up back-to-back three-run innings to jump out to a substantial lead, and it prove to be too much to the Lions, as the rubber match ended in a 13-9 win for the Vikings.  Ehrhard had a monster game with four hits on five at-bats, while driving in two runs, with one double, and one run scored.  Quinones crossed the plate three times after going 2-for-4 with one triple, and one RBI.  Jevon Boyd pitched 3.2 innings, as he allowed just two earned runs on two hits, and tallied six strikeouts.

Head Coach Doug Bletcher felt his squad played a strong team this past week.

"Though a non-conference series,  Augustana series in many ways was  positive in giving us a blueprint on how the MIAA competition will be from week to week," said Bletcher.  "Augustana was an impressive offensive ball-club, fielding their positions well defensively and with seemingly an unlimited number of arms out of the pen."

Coach Bletcher expanded on the week, and noted that the Lions need to learn from the experience against Augustana early in the season.

"For our team's play, I thought we played at a pretty high rate of efficiency offensively and defensively for the first three game series of the year for us with just a couple of hiccups along the way."  Bletcher added, "As long as our team takes the negatives from the series and applies it positively for the future, it can be a productive outcome though we only took one of three in the non-conference set of games."

On The Season
Ehrhard is leading the squad with a .526 batting average (10-for-19), and has driven in six runs, with four doubles, and scored four times.  Quinones and Rayce Singbush are tied for first on the team with 11 hits apiece.  Singbush has a team-high 12 RBI, with four doubles, one triple, and one homerun, along with three stolen bases.  Quinones has hit two doubles, two triples, and one home run with 10 RBI.

Devin Breihan has made three appearances for a total of 3.2 innings pitched.  Breihan has allowed just two hits, and has one save, with three strikeouts on the year.  Connor Law is 2-0 after pitching 10.0 innings in two starts.  Law has eight strikeouts on the season, with a 2.70 ERA.  Austin Georgen is 1-0 this season in 8.2 innings pitch, and a team-high 10 strikeouts.

This Week in Lindenwood Baseball
2/26/16 – #20 Missouri Southern at Warren Turner Field in Joplin, Mo. – 3 p.m.
2/27/16 – #20 Missouri Southern at Warren Turner Field in Joplin, Mo. – 1 p.m.
2/28/16 – #20 Missouri Southern at Warren Turner Field in Joplin, Mo. – 1 p.m.

*Ranking based on Tuesday, February 16th poll.
**National Rankings will be released each Tuesday at NCAA.org
 
Lindenwood will travel to Joplin, Mo. to take on No. 24 Missouri Southern for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 3 p.m.  The Lions are 6-5 against Missouri Southern since the two teams began play in 2013.  Prindle is a career 10-for-36, with 4 RBI in 11 game played against the Lions.  Michael Bibbs hit .357 against Missouri Southern last season.  Bibbs compiled five hits, with one home run, and two RBI.  Degener, Prindle, and Ehrhard each tallied four hits in the series, while Prindle added a double to his stat line.  Andrew Eilers appeared in two games in Joplin, Mo., as he tossed three innings, allowing three hits, and three strikeouts.

As the Lions prepare to take on Missouri Southern, Bletcher harped on the importance of getting better each day.

"With the Missouri Southern conference series coming up this weekend, we have an opportunity to keep gaining ground through practice to work on our team game as well as take an introspective look at ourselves individually."  Bletcher ended, "We do need to continue to improve our overall play in preparation for a ultra-competitive MIAA Conference. We aren't far off, but have to be realistic on where we need to be.

MIAA Players of the Week
Feb 1-7 Hitter of the Week - Andrew Vogelbaugh - Pittsburg State
Feb 1-7 Pitcher of the Week - Nathan Gieber - Emporia State
Feb 8-14 Hitter of the Week - Joe Mapes - Fort Hays State
Feb 8-14 Pitcher of the Week - Joe Paulino - Missouri Southern
 
*MIAA Players of the Week will be announced each Tuesday afternoon at TheMIAA.com
 
Follow the Lions at Lindenwoodlions.com, on Twitter (@Lu_Lions), and on Instagram (Lindenwood_lions).