Southern baseball sweeps a double-header at Southwest Baptist - KOAM TV 7

Southern baseball sweeps a double-header at Southwest Baptist

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- Behind a pair of complete-game wins by pitchers Cody Griebling and Brett Abell, the Missouri Southern Baseball team swept a double-header at Southwest Baptist today, winning 5-0 and 6-4. 

Southern (20-24, 16-22 MIAA) picked up masterful performances on the mound today as Griebling had a three-hit complete game shutout in the opener and Abell struck out eight and walked just two in a complete-game win in the nightcap. 

In the opener, Southern started the scoring with a home run from Tee Helsel in the second and an RBI from Dane Kolkmeyer in the third. Jim Gilkerson scored on an RBI single from Patrick Deao in the fifth and CJ Matthews homered to open the sixth. The Lions added another unearned run in the inning. 

Griebling struck out eight SBU (6-36, 5-35 MIAA) batters in the game, allowing just three hits and walking one to earn his seventh win of the season. Deao and Cullen Baxter both had a pair of hits in the game, whiel Gilkerson scored twice. Harrison Gerber broke a Southern record with a sacrifice bunt in the game, bringing his season total to 13 and breaking Skyler Rawlins mark of 12 set two seasons ago. 

In game two, the Lions led 4-2 after six innings and scored another two in the ninth. SBU added a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Abell held on for the win. 

Kolkmeyer had three hits in game two, while Matthews, Fernando Lugo, Dallas Burke and Baxter had a pair of hits each. Burke and Matthews both drove in a pair of runs in the game, while Kolkmeyer drove in one each. 

The two teams will be back at it tomorrow with a pair of games at 1 pm.