The Lindenwood baseball team lost its first game of the MIAA Tournament to Missouri Southern by a 4-1 margin on Saturday night in Joplin, Mo.
 
Nick Hentis threw 7 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits with six strikeouts, but gave the Lions a chance to stay in the game.  Sam Baxter led the squad with two hits while Ryan Sosnowski tallied the only RBI of the game.  Lindenwood registered eight hits and walked four times, but could not string together a rally late in the game.
 
Missouri Southern scored one run in the top of the first and added two more in the top of the eighth to gain a 3-0 lead.  Sosnowski brought the Lions back within two runs after an RBI-single to drive in Paul Sherwood.  Lindenwood pressed late in the game, but stranded nine runners on the night in the three-run loss.
 
Lindenwood drops to 33-18 on the season while Missouri Southern improves to 29-25 on the year.  The two teams will meet again at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday in Joplin, Mo. as the winner will play for the MIAA Championship at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Central Oklahoma vs. Missouri Western game at 9 a.m.