The Lindenwood baseball team lost 15-7 to No. 10 Missouri Southern on Sunday afternoon in Joplin, Mo.
 
Missouri Southern jumped on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but the Lions responded with a run in the top of the third after a sacrifice fly by Drew Quinones drove in Zac Perkins.  Lindenwood could not hold the Missouri Southern offense at bay, and the host Lions added two more runs in the bottom of the inning to take a two-run lead.  Lindenwood tacked on one run in the top of the fourth due to a Sam Baxter home run to right field.  Again, Missouri Southern scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend its lead to 5-2.
 
The visiting Lions turned up the heat on offense and had a big top of the fifth inning.  With bases loaded and no one out, Quinones put the ball in play to reach on a fielder's choice, and Perkins scored in the process.  Mike Ehrhard came to the plate, and with a 0-2 count, he took the next pitch over the centerfield fence to put Lindenwood in front 6-5.
 
Missouri Southern responded with four runs of its own in the fifth inning to regain the lead.  Lindenwood could not stop the offensive power of the Lions, as Lindenwood surrendered six more runs in the next three innings, and scored just one more.  The Lions fell 15-7 in the third game of a three-game series.
 
Nathan Prindle led the squad this weekend with a .429 batting average, which included two homeruns, three RBI, he reached base three times by drawing a walk, and was hit by a pitch three times.  Ehrhard also had two homeruns on the weekend, with six RBI, and a team-high five hits.  Wes Degener and Quinones each had four hits, while Quinones had six RBI, one double, and one home run.  Connor Law had the best pitching performance on the weekend after pitching five innings with nine strikeouts in the Lions opening game win.
 
The loss sets Lindenwood back to 6-4 on the season and 1-2 in the MIAA.  The Lions will host Northwest Missouri State in the MIAA home opener at the Lou Brock Sports complex in St. Charles, Mo. for a three-game series, with game one begining on Friday at 4 p.m.