JOPLIN, Mo. - The Fort Hays State baseball team dropped its series opener against Missouri Southern by just one run on Friday (March 20), losing 11-10. The Tigers (9-16, 6-9 MIAA) rallied from a 5-0 deficit to take an 8-5 lead before the Lions (14-10, 9-5 MIAA) scored six more runs to secure the win.
 
A pair of two-run home runs helped the home team take a 5-0 lead by the end of the second inning before Karter Beving came out of the bullpen to tame the Lions, holding them to one run on five hits over 3.1 innings of relief.
 
After collecting just one hit the first time through the lineup, the Tigers broke through in the top of the fourth when Antonio Avila led off with a single. Cooper Howell followed with a one-out single before Tytin Goebel plated the first FHSU run with a groundout. Erick Ordonez then came through with a two-out triple, plating Howell before Justin Lipka and Mac Bowie rattled off back-to-back RBI singles, helping the Tigers pull within 5-4.
 
Leading off for the second inning in a row, Avila hit a game-tying home run to start the fifth before Ordonez started a sixth-inning rally with a single. Lipka gave the Tigers the lead with another single before Bowie hit his second home run of the season, putting FHSU up 8-5.
 
The Lions punched right back with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth, including two home runs to retake the lead, 9-8. The Tigers had two runners on base with one out in the top of the seventh but were unable to score before the home team used another two-run home run to push its lead to three, 11-8.
 
Lipka helped the Tigers pull within two with a leadoff double in the eighth before Tyson Jimenez drove him in with a single, but the Lions escaped the inning without any further damage following two flyouts. Ordonez kept the Tigers alive with a two-out solo home run in the ninth, but the Lions slammed the door with a strikeout to secure the win.
 
Ordonez, Avila and Lipka all had three hits each, with Bowie collecting two hits and driving in a trio of runs. Dylan Salcido (0-1) took the loss after allowing three runs on three hits with one strikeout.
 
The Tigers and Lions will continue their series Saturday (March 21) with another 1 p.m. first pitch.