Pitt State Baseball kicked off MIAA play in a series with Missouri Southern State University Friday Feb. 27th- Monday Feb. 28th. They won the series, going 2-1 in total. They won 10-4 in the first game, 21-8 in the second, and lost 2-14 in the third.
In the first game of the series, they started off down 1-2 after two innings. They scored 4 and then 2 runs in the fourth and fifth innings, taking a 7-2 lead. The Lions would then score 1 run in the sixth, and again in the eighth. Pitt would then score three more runs in the top of the ninth to top off the win.
After a win Saturday, they started Sunday being down 0-4 already after one inning. They scored 7 runs in back to back innings and only allowed two more on the Lions part. They then would score 7 more runs again in the fifth, allowing two more to the Lions. After holding a 21-8 lead, the game ended after the seventh inning.
“I am not sure if 21 runs in that game was a school record or not,” said sophomore infielder Cade Clemmons, “But it for sure was an amazing thing to be a part of and anytime scoring that many runs in baseball is a unique experience.”
After two wins, the team went into Monday’s game ready to end the series with a sweep. However, it was not able to happen for the Gorillas. The Lions started off holding a 0-3 lead after two innings. Pitt would fight back scoring 1 run in back to back innings, but the Lions bounced back and scored 4 more of their own in the fifth. Pitt let up 7 runs in the bottom of the sixth. After being down by 12 runs, the game ended after the top of the seventh inning.
“It was rough losing on Monday, as I think the team went into the game thinking we could easily sweep and dominate the way we did the past two days… it was hard to get hits off of their starting pitcher and that’s where it really hurt us,” said Clemmons.
After starting off great in conference play, Pitt hosted Southwest Baptist University, and took a 14-2 win, bouncing back after a 2-14 loss. They will then continue MIAA play on March 4th-6th in hosting Missouri Western State University (MWSU) in a three-day series in hopes to continue their winning streak.
“We are super excited to get more into conference play after we had a slow start to our season… this is when the real fun starts that we get to prove to our conference and the nation how good of a team we have this year,” Clemmons said.