Deaver's 16 strikeouts send Lions home from MIAA tourney

Colby Deaver struck out 16 batters Thursday night as he and the rest of the Emporia State Hornets sent Missouri Southern back home in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA conference tournament in Edmond, Oklahoma.

No. 3 seed MSSU managed just four hits and drew two walks against Deaver and lost to sixth-seeded Emporia State 4-2.

Deaver was pitching in his first game since being named the MIAA pitcher of the year, and he showed why. It took 130 pitches for him to complete the game. He allowed a triple and two-run home run in the fourth inning.

After Blake Jones' two-run blast to tie the game at 2-2, the Lions only managed one more hit the rest of the game. They went down in order in the next four innings.

Brayden Luikart led things off in the ninth with a single. Will Doherty drew a two-out walk to extend the inning to Jason Lazo with a chance to take the lead on a home run. But Lazo went down on strikes on just three pitches.

Of Deaver's 16 strikeouts, 11 were on swings and misses.

MSSU's starting pitcher Owen Schneider hit a batter with two outs in the third inning and then a wild pitch moved runners up to second and third. That allowed for Brady Unrein to drive in two runs with a single to start the game's scoring.

After Southern tied it, things were quiet until the sixth frame. In the top half, Schneider went back out to the mound with his pitch count at 94. On his 95th pitch, he watched Nathon Cruz send the ball over the left field fence to make it 3-2.

Emporia State added another run in the eighth. MSSU reliever Jackson Gamble walked the leadoff batter and then got two productive outs that moved the runner to third base. That's when Marcus Young took over. Young delivered a wild pitch that allowed the Hornets to score and take a 4-2 lead.

MSSU was ranked fifth in the Central Region polls on Monday when the NCAA last released its polls. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association had the Lions at seventh. It will await the NCAA's final release on Sunday to see if it remains inside the top eight teams to earn a spot in the Central Region tournament.