ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Lindenwood baseball team (22-18, 8-7 OVC) picked up their eighth straight win with a 12-8 victory over Missouri-St. Louis on Wednesday evening. The Lions never relinquished the lead after going up 5-0 in the bottom of the first inning.

Sam Driscoll stayed hot at the plate, collecting two hits and registering a team-leading four RBIs. Tanner Simpson and Will Geary also recorded two hits apiece, with Simpson driving in a pair of runs.

Michael Walsh picked up the win on the mound after giving up just a couple of runs on five hits with four strikeouts through 3.1 innings pitched to start the game. Meanwhile, Luke Wright secured his first career save after tossing 1.1 shutout innings to finish the game. 

How it Happened
The Lions plated five runs on four hits in the first inning to take control early. Will Geary got the bats rolling with a one-out triple to right center, and after Jake Radosevich was walked, scored the opening run on a William Zareh RBI base hit.

Kam Edwards was walked to load the bases before Sam Driscoll stayed hot with a two-RBI single to extend the lead to three. With runners on second and third and two outs, Owen Ralph delivered a double down the right field line to clear the bases.

UMSL loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the second but came up empty handed as Michael Walsh worked out of the inning with a strikeout followed by 4-6-3 double play. However, the Tritons would capitalize for a pair of runs in the top of the third, with Mitch Bonczkowski driving in the first run with a sacrifice fly before and Owen Faith triple to the gap in right center added another run.

Lindenwood answered right back with a three-run home half despite only recording one hit in the frame. With runners on the corners, Sam Driscoll drove in the first run of the inning with a fielder's choice, and after moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a ground out, scored on a Charlie Isom-McCall infield single that was too hot for the Triton pitcher to handle.

After Will Geary was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Jake Radosevich was walked to bring in the third run.

The Lions tacked on one more run in the bottom of the fourth with a Sam Driscoll RBI triple to right field that scored Tanner Simpson, who had reached with a base hit, but UMSL cut into the lead in the top of the fifth with a Bennett Cagle three-run homer to left field.

However, with the bases loaded in the home half, Tanner Simpson delivered a two-RBI base hit up the middle to push the lead back out to six, and after holding the Tritons scoreless in the top of the sixth, Owen Ralph came home on a passed ball in the bottom of the frame to make the score 12-5 in favor of the Lions.

UMSL refused to go away quietly however, and after getting one run back in the top of the seventh, they loaded the bases with three consecutive one-out singles in the eighth, with a fourth straight base hit bringing in another run. With the bags still juiced, a two-out walk forced home LJ Randle and brought the tying run to the plate.

Luke Wright was up to the challenge, though, and entered the game to record the inning's third out without allowing any additional runs. Wright was left in to finish the job in the ninth, and despite giving up a pair of one-out base hits, was able to secure the win with a 4-6-3 double play ball.

Next Up
Lindenwood hosts Little Rock this weekend to continue conference play. Game one against the Trojans is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 24^th.