The Lindenwood baseball team punched in four runs in the seventh inning to increase its lead and pull out a 7-5 victory on Saturday against Northwest Missouri in Maryville, Mo.
 
Blake Beckmann tallied his third win on the year after tossing 6.2 innings and struck out four batters while allowing just two earned runs on eight hits.  Connor Law shut the door in the final inning as he mowed through each batter in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.  Kyle Teter saw the ball well as he posted two RBI on three hits to lead the squad in both categories.
 
Drew Quinones gave the Lions a quality start to the game as he hit a one-out double down the left field line and later scored on a Teter single.  Northwest and Lindenwood played strong defensive games for the next handful of innings.  Lindenwood added another run in the top of the sixth when Rayce Singbush singled up the middle to score Tyler Muehling from third base.
 
The Lions piled on the runs in the top of the seventh as all runs came with two outs on the board.  Muehling singled up the middle to drive in Brett Andersen and Ryan Sosnowski drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Lions up by four.  Teter hit another single and this time drove in both Quinones and Muehling to give Lindenwood a 6-0 lead.
 
The Bearcats made a comeback while scoring three runs on three hits and an error in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit in half.  Northwest Missouri picked up two more unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 6-5 ballgame.  Quinones added a loud insurance run with a homer to deep center and the Lions held on for the 7-5 win.
 
Lindenwood improves to 9-6 on the year and 3-2 in the MIAA while the Bearcats drop to 9-6 on the season and 1-4 in league play.  The final game of the three-game set will start at 1 p.m. in Maryville, Mo. on Sunday.