Lindenwood baseball (25-23, 12-8 OVC) swept the Morehead State Eagles (12-33, 2-19 OVC) to open up the month of May behind clutch hitting and timely pitching and completing the sweep without star center fielder Cam Edwards for the final two games after leaving game one on Friday early.
Game 1:
The series kicked off Friday with a bang as Lindenwood took game one of the series 5-4 in 13 innings.
Bennett Stice picked up the win, his fourth of the season, pitching 2.2 out of the bullpen striking out three, walking one and giving up no runs.
Josh Newell got the start for Lindenwood in game one going 7.1 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out two before giving way to Easton Rackers who dealt 3.0 innings not allowing a run while giving up three hits, two walks and striking out three.
Bryson Arnette and Sam Grunberg were the only Lions with multiple hits in the opener as Arnette was 3/4 with two walks and a double while Grunberg was 2/4 with a walk and an RBI before being pinch run for by Brendan Ealy.
Lindenwood opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth as Grunberg led off by belting his ninth homer of the season. Charlie Isom-McCall scored on a passed ball and with two outs Tyler Thompson ripped a two-run single through the left side to give the Lions a 4-0 lead.
Morehead State immediately responded in the top of the fifth as Griffin Olson drove home a run on an RBI groundout to Newell on the mound before Caden Sheridan ripped a double scoring Austyn Peak cutting the Lions lead in half at 4-2.
The Eagles would tie it up in the top of the seventh as with two outs they were able to load the bases on two singles and a walk before Hunter Thomas jumped on an 0-1 fastball and lined it into left field for a game-tying two run single.
Both offenses would go cold as the game was sent into extra innings before finally in the bottom of the 13th Lindenwood loaded the bases with two outs before an errant pitch got past Thomas and allowed Evan Funkhouser to dash home and score the winning run to take game one of the series for Lindenwood.
Game 2:
Rain all day in St. Charles Saturday postponed game two until Sunday for a doubleheader to close out the series. In game two, game one of the doubleheader, Lindenwood again used some late game heroics to win 6-5 and claim the series.
Michael Walsh picked up his third of year pitching 3.2 innings out of the bullpen only allowing one run on three hits, walking two and striking out three before giving way to Rackers who picked up his fourth save pitching a perfect ninth inning.
Ethan Smith got the start in game two but struggled with command all day as his final line had him going 4.1 innings giving up four runs on three hits, while walking four and punching out three.
Filip Sarota was 3/4 on the day with a double as the Lions racked up eight hits as a squad.
Grunberg crushed his 10th home run of the season to get the scoring started in the bottom of the second before the Lions put up a four spot in the bottom of the fourth off a sacrifice fly from Tanner Simpson, Funkhouser scoring on a wild pitch and Jake Radosevich collecting a two-run single to put Lindenwood up 5-0.
The lead would not last long as Morehead State reared its head back and responded with a five run inning of their own in the fifth with Alex Kean tying the game up with two outs and ripping a 3-0 pitch down the right field line for a two-run double.
But again, after offensive explosions by both teams the bats would grow cold until the bottom of the eighth after Simpson reached on a fielder’s choice and then stole second, Funkhouser lined a single over the head of the second basemen and into center field, scoring Simpson and giving the Lions a 6-5 lead into the ninth where Walsh handed the ball to Rackers who struck out JJ Dutton to slam the door on the Eagles and seal the Lindenwood win.
Game 3:
Lindenwood was able to finish off the sweep of the Eagles as they cruised to a 12-9 win in game three of the series.
Eli Brown got the win in game three after going 5.0 innings allowing five runs, three earned, on four hits, walked three and struck out five.
Stice got his second save as he worked a perfect seventh that included a punchout to close out the weekend.
Four different Lions had two hits while six different Lions tallied an RBI as the Lions had 12 runs on 11 hits in the finale.
The top of the lineup shined for Lindenwood in game three as the combination of Mitch Cummins, Isom-McCall and Radosevich combined to go 6/13 with six RBIs.
Morehead State struck first in the top of the first plating two before Grunberg clubbed his team-leading 11th homer of the season to tie the game at 2-2 headed to the second. Lindenwood would plate three in the second before breaking it open in the bottom of the third by putting up a five spot.
Tyler Ellis whacked his fourth home run of the year to extend the lead to 7-2 before Isom-McCall and Radosevich hit back-to-back doubles to extend the lead to 10-2 through three innings. Morehead State got three back on a three-run bomb from Eli Kirkendoll to claw back to 10-5 in the top of the fourth before a well executed squeeze bunt play from Thompson and a single from Cummins extended the lead back to 12-5.
Morehead State got four in the top of the sixth to get back within three at 12-9 but were unable to get anything going against Stice as he slammed the door to close out the Lions 25th win of the year and move them to fifth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
The Lions will be back in action on Tuesday May 6 against SLU before hitting the road to Cookeville Tennessee for a weekend series against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles May 9-11.
