The Lions came close to completing the season sweep of the Pittsburg State Gorillas on April 2, but they fell just one run short.

Game one of the double header was dominated by the strong pitching performance from junior Nathan Hughes who pitched five innings and gave up three hits and three runs while compiling eight strikeouts in the Lions’ 5-3 win.

The win improved Hughes’ record to 4-2 on the season.

The Lions were led offensively by senior third baseman Mark Keister who had two hits in the game, one of which was a two-run home run and two runs scored.

The Southern pitchers, Hughes and junior reliever Jake Lawver, allowed only four Pitt State hits and combined to strike out nine Gorillas in the first game.

In game two, the Lions started freshman Jeff Taylor who proved to be ineffective in his 1.2 innings pitched.

He had some control problems and allowed six runs in the second inning before he was relieved by sophomore Josh Tupper.

After three innings, Pitt State led 9-0, but the Lions battled back to plate seven runs in the top of the fourth inning in an attack led by a two-run home run by Keister and a two-run double by Hughes.

That left the score at 9-7 after four innings.

In the fifth inning, junior Ross Bailey came on in relief of Tupper who threw 2.1 innings for the Lions, and sophomore Evan Bates relieved Bailey in the sixth.

Despite their seven-run burst in the fourth, the Lions were unable to catch up to the Gorillas, losing the second game of the doubleheader, 9-8.

The loss brought Southern’s record to 20-12 (8-4 MIAA).

On March 31, the Lions traveled to Central Missouri State University to play the sixth ranked Division II team in the nation and the MIAA-leading Mules.

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Lions came back from a 4-0 deficit in the sixth to tie the game behind two-run home runs by Keister and Taylor.

But the Mules were able to push across a run in the bottom of the seventh to win 5-4.

The loss went to senior Nick Davis, despite a strong performance on the mound.

Davis pitched six innings and gave up five earned runs, bringing his record to 5-1 on the season.

In game two, the Mules pulled ahead of the Lions in the bottom of the fourth inning by a score of 3-2 and went on to win the game by the score of 6-3.

The second loss of the day went to senior Nick Johnson who gave up six runs in four innings to bring his record to 4-3. Evan Bates added two scoreless innings in relief with four strikeouts in the loss.

The Lions were led offensively again by Taylor and Keister who both went 2-3 in game two.

After 32 games, head coach Warren Turner said the team is doing fine and he thinks the upcoming road games will tell a lot about how the team will end up this season.

“Our pitching keeps giving us the chances we need to win,” Turner said. “It’s just a matter of us making the plays and scoring runs to be successful.”

With his offense starting to click and his strong pitching staff shouldering the bulk of the team’s responsibilities, Turner thinks the Lions have a good chance to end the season in the top four of the MIAA and move on to the conference tournament.

Taylor also has a good feeling about the team’s chances this season.

“We’re playing well right now,” Taylor said.

“Our bats are coming along and the pitching has been there all along. We just hope to continue to do well and make the conference tournament and maybe the regional tournament.”

Nick Johnson who, along with Nick Davis, anchors the Lion’s pitching staff, also has his sights set on the post season.

“There is no reason why we should not do well for the rest of the season,” Johnson said.

“There is not one guy on this team that we don’t think can help us when they are asked to.”

The Lions will be on the diamond again on Saturday and Sunday at Northwest Missouri State University for a pair of double headers and for a double header at Southwest Baptist University on Tuesday.