ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The Missouri Southern baseball team got a pair of home runs and a stellar start from Zac Shoemaker and the Lions opened the 2021 season with a 3-2 win at Flagler today.
Southern (1-0) got five strong innings from Shoemaker as he struck out 11 and allowed just one earned run on four hits in getting win No. 1 on the season. Corey Cowan threw two hitless innings in relief with three strikeouts, while Cole Woods picked up the save, throwing the final two innings and striking out five.
An Aurora native, Shoemaker moved up into third all-time on the MSSU career strikeout list. The lefty has 211 punch outs in his career.
Troy Gagan and Matt Miller had a home run each as Gagan drove in two and Miller one. Henry Kusiak had a pair of hits, while Jordan Fitzpatrick had the team’s other hit.
The Lions opened up the scoring in the third when Fitzpatrick reached on a two-out error. Gagan then took the first pitch he saw and deposited it over the left field fence for the 2-0 lead.
Flagler (0-1) picked up a run in the fifth to get within one, but Miller answered with his long ball in the sixth for what would end up being the game-winner. Flagler added a lone run in the ninth, but Woods rebounded to strikeout the final batter.
The two teams will be back in action tomorrow with a single game. First-pitch is slated for 5 p.m. (CT).
