The Lions (22-19, 15-17 MIAA) sent Pittsburg State (15-27, 10-22 MIAA) home with another loss on the Gorillas’ record following a comeback victory at Joe Becker Stadium Tuesday evening.

The victory becomes the first out of the last six for a Southern team trying to keep hold of a place in the postseason tournament. At this point, that feat looks to be an uphill battle.

“Eliminate the big picture,” said senior pitcher David Reese. “Remember to take it one pitch at a time.”

That is easy to say, but much harder to carry out for a team looking to relive last season’s glory of an MIAA Tournament Championship.

That feat was helped in large part by a roster filled with players who had been here, played together and created a chemistry that all came together at the right time. That’s something this year’s team knows needs to materialize now.

“We feel good going into this weekend,” said senior outfielder Beau Phillips, “and with it being senior weekend, as well as the last series to be played at Joe Becker, the guys are ready to come out and do whatever it takes to win.”

And win they must, following another tough weekend set against Northeastern State where the Lions were beaten three out of four.

Those losses came at home to a team ranked beneath Southern in the conference and overall standings. Simply said, they were games that could not be lost.

Still, as one series ends, another begins, and with a dull light still at the end of the tunnel, the Lions get set to defend the home field of Joe Becker once again.

This time it is against the Bronchos of Central Oklahoma (29-10, 22-10 MIAA), a team currently ranked second in the conference and touting the top team batting average (.353) on base percentage (.450) and total runs scored (327).

A lofty test for any team, but luckily for the Lions, the statistic they hold an advantage in over all others in the conference just happens to be the team earned run average (3.57). A perfect setup for what could be some pre-Easter fireworks as the MIAA foes face off.