NASHVILLE, Tenn. --The Lindenwood baseball team (3-17) lost two games on Saturday to Belmont (10-11) by scores of 5-1 and 9-7, respectively.

GAME 1 | Belmont 5, Lindenwood 1
Sophomore Dawson Hokuf went 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI for the Lindenwood Lions in a 5-1 loss.  Sophomore Eli Brown (0-4) got the ball to start for Lindenwood and took the loss. Graham Breite was a bright spot for the Lions, coming out of the bullpen and throwing one scoreless inning, allowing one hit, with no walks and one strikeout.

Senior Joe Copeland put together a noteworthy performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 5-0, the Lions first put runs on the board in the seventh inning. Hokuf put Lindenwood on the board with a one-out solo home run off sophomore Jordan Zuger. The ballgame ended with that seventh inning rally falling short.

GAME NOTES
» Lindenwood's highest scoring inning was the seventh, when it pushed one run across.
» Lindenwood pitchers faced 29 Belmont hitters in the game, allowing four ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out five.
» Hokuf led the Lions at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI.
» Belmont was led offensively by junior Brodey Heaton, who went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI.
» Zuger led the Bruins pitching staff, throwing seven innings of one-run ball.

GAME 2 | Belmont 9, Lindenwood 7
Freshman Aaron Jungers was a bright spot for the Lions, coming out of the bullpen and throwing 3.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits, with three walks and six strikeouts.

Offensively, the Lions were led by senior Sam Kissane, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a double. Junior Logan Stevens furnished a noteworthy performance at the dish as well, going 1-for-2 with two RBI. Junior Brett Bowers also chipped in for Lindenwood, putting together two hits in three trips to the plate while adding a walk.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions were trailing 7-0 in the fifth inning when they first put runs on the board. Lindenwood managed to push across two runs in the inning.

The Lions deficit expanded to 9-2 before their offense got back on the scoreboard, cutting into that deficit in the seventh inning. The Lindenwood offense exploded for five runs, highlighted by a one-run error off the bat of Copeland, which brought the score to 9-7 in favor of the Bruins. The ballgame ended with that seventh inning rally falling short.

GAME NOTES
» Lindenwood's highest scoring inning was the seventh, when it pushed five runs across.
» The Lions out-hit the Bruins at an 8-7 clip.
» Lindenwood pitchers faced 33 Belmont hitters in the game, allowing four ground balls and six fly balls while striking out seven.
» The Lions drew four walks from Belmont pitching.
» Kissane led the Lions at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double.
» Belmont was led offensively by junior Sam Slaughter, who went 1-for-1 with a home run and two RBI.

UP NEXT
The Lions will close out the weekend series with Belmont on Sunday for a 1:00 p.m. start in Nashville, Tenn.