Southern wins Game 2

Maryville, MO - The Missouri Southern Lions defeated your Northwest Bearcats on Saturday in Game 2 at Joplin by the score 7-6. James Holler hit two home runs in the game and Northwest had the game tieing run at 3rd base with 2 outs in the 9th but the Lions held on to win the game. Another Bearcat highlight, Nikko Pablo arguably had his best relief outing in 2016 with 2.1 innings pitched and only 1 unearned run. The game took 2 hours and 48 minutes to complete in perfect 75 degree and sunny weather. The Lions and Bearcats played in front of an announced crowd of 374 fans.

As Junior B2R said before Game 2, "It's going to be a cat fight."

Offense - James Holler was the MVP in Game 2. In total, James went 3 for 5 (2 home runs) with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored in the game. Nick Gotta went 2 for 6 with 1 RBI while playing short stop. Ozzie Adams went 2 for 5 with 1 run scored in the game. Kevin Handzlik went 2 for 5 while playing 1st base. Jake Lewis earned 2 walks and scored 1 run in the game. Derek Meyer earned 1 walk and had 2 sacrifice hits while playing catcher in the game. Garrett Fort went 1 for 2 with 2 walks, got hit by a pitch, and 2 runs scored while playing center field. In total, Northwest scored 6 runs off of 11 hits, 4 RBIs, 5 walks, 4 strike-outs, and left 13 runners on base.

Defense - Northwest was charged with 4 errors in the game that allowed 2 unearned runs in the game.

Pitching - Joseph Hietpas earned the start in the game but picked-up the loss to see his 2016 record fall to 4-2. In total, Hietpas worked 5.2 innings, allowed 7 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 5 walks, 5 strike-outs, 1 wild pitch, 0 balks, and he did not hit a batter. Nikko Pablo came into the game in the 6th inning and worked 2.1 innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 0 walks, 3 strike-outs, 0 wild pitches, 0 balks, and he did not hit a batter in the game.

Next - Game 3 of the Southern series is Sunday, April 9, 2016, 1pm, at Joplin. The Bearcats are about 9 conference wins away from qualifying for the MIAA baseball post-season tournament. Game 3 is huge for Northwest and their play-off hopes. Despite Southern's huge offense, the series is coming down to which defense plays the best and pitching executes their pitches.

Go Cats!!
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