BOLIVAR, Mo. - Both teams had a huge third inning, but Southwest Baptist took advantage of big offensive frames in the first and fourth innings to hand the Lincoln baseball team a 25-9 defeat on Tuesday (March 22).

The Bearcats scored eight runs in the bottom of the first, but a solo homerun by Jackson Walker got LU on the board in the top of the second. Southwest Baptist (12-11, 8-7 MIAA) got the score back in the bottom half of the frame, but Lincoln (1-22, 0-13 MIAA) managed to come back in the top of the third to cut the SBU lead down to two.

Mike Million started the rally with a three-run home, plating Zach Anderson, who reached on a single, and Dillon Walker in the process. Alex Ludwick followed that big hit with a double, and then scored during in the next at-bat off a Mason Price single. Jackson Walker then tallied a base hit, and a pair of SBU errors allowed both him and Price to score, pulling Lincoln to within 9-7 of the Bearcats.

Southwest Baptist responded in a big way in the bottom of the third, however, plating six runs on four hits to take an eight run advantage. Million helped LU get back a couple of those runs in the top of the fourth, as his single, combined with another SBU error, scored Kaleb Davis. A wild pitch allowed Million to take third, and a base hit from Ludwick brought him home and cut the Bearcat lead to 15-9.

That ended up being the final run of the day for the Blue Tigers. Southwest Baptist, meanwhile, scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth and three more in the fifth to take control of the contest.

Million, Ludwick and Jackson Walker each had two hits while Jeffery Jackson, Anderson and Price had one apiece. Kolton Clark, Caleb Thomas and Cameron Massman each registered strikeouts on the mound. Million led LU with seven putouts, Jackson Walker tallied four and Anderson recorded three. Anderson and Jackson Walker each also had an assist.

The Blue Tigers return home this weekend to host Fort Hays State in a three-game MIAA series. The two teams will meet on Thursday (March 24) and Friday (March 25) to play single games at 3:00 p.m. CDT before closing the series on Saturday (March 26) with a 1:00 p.m. CDT contest.