Box Score
Bolivar, Mo. - Down to his final strike and facing an 0-2 count in a tie ballgame in the bottom of the 9th inning, redshirt freshman Luke Winfrey flared a single that dropped in front of the left fielder and allowed Jackson Mueller to rush on home and send the Southwest Baptist Baseball team home with a 9-8 victory over Pittsburg State. Winfrey's single capped off a dramatic final two innings for SBU that saw them score a combined seven runs. The win improves SBU's record to 17-31 (11-23 MIAA) on the season and drops Pittsburg State, the #5 ranked team in the Central Region, to 29-17 (21-13 MIAA). 

After a scoreless 1st inning, the Bearcats offense went to work in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Clint Jack led off with a single and Don Roethler and Tyler Mathys reached base via a hit by pitch and another single to load the bases with no outs. After a fly out and a strikeout, Tyler Slawson drew an RBI walk to force home Jack and give SBU an early 1-0 advantage. Bearcats starter, Elias Czech, danced out of trouble in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th innings to keep the score 1-0. Czech stranded seven runners over his first six innings and with his best moment coming in the top of the 6th inning. The Pittsburg State batter led off with a double and advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch. The next Gorilla batter flied a ball to right fielder Carl Schwettmann. With the runner on 3rd base tagging, Carl Schwettmann gunned down the runner at the plate with a perfect strike and the game remained 1-0. 

However, Pittsburg State would come back in the top of the 7th with six runs off the Bearcat bullpen to go in front 6-1. SBU got a run back in the bottom of the 7th when Andrew Meier bounced a two out single up the middle to score Hunter Hisky. The Gorillas responded with another run in the top of the 8th to stretch their margin back to five at 7-2. In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Bearcat offense came up with a dramatic comeback capitalizing on a couple Pittsburg State mistakes. With the bases loaded and two outs, Hisky helped bring in the first run of the inning with a two out RBI walk. With the bases still jacked, Schwettmann grounded a ball that went through the first baseman's legs and allowed two runs to scamper home and cut the deficit to 7-5. On the ensuing pitch, Meier blasted a three-run homer over the right center field fence to give SBU the lead back at 8-7.

The Gorillas were able to tie the game up in the top of the 9th inning at 8-8, which only set the stage for Winfrey's heroics. Roethler and Mathys started the inning with a walk and single. Following a strikeout, Winfrey stepped to the plate and dropped his single in to send SBU away the 9-8 victory. Drew Wagner, who sixth pitcher out of the Bearcat bullpen got the win (1-3) while Cody White for Pittsburg State took the loss (2-1).

At the plate, Meier led the way with 2 hits, 4 RBI, and a run scored. Mathys contributed 3 hits and a run scored in 5 at bats. Hisky recorded a hit, 2 runs, RBI, and 2 walks while Winfrey had a hit, run, and game winning RBI.

The Bearcats and Gorillas will conclude their series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 PM from Dodson Field in Bolivar. It is SBU's Senior Day and those festivities will occur between the two games.