The Lindenwood baseball team had two chances to win the 2010 HAAC Tournament on Saturday in St. Joseph, Mo. However, after a pair of close losses, the Lions had to settle for second place. Avila defeated Lindenwood by scores of 5-3 and 8-7 to capture the conference tournament crown.
Avila grabbed early leads in both games forcing Lindenwood to play from behind almost the entire day.
In the first game, the Lions scored one run in the top of the first for their only lead in the two games. The Eagles came right back though with five runs over the next two innings. Lindenwood chipped two runs off that deficit with a pair in the sixth, but that turned out to be the final runs of the game.
Lindenwood managed just five hits in the contest. Zach Malaway had two hits and scored once.
Carlos Pianetta had two RBIs, one hit, and one run.
Randy Serrato threw a complete game, allowing four earned runs, nine hits, and three walks, and striking out four.
In the second contest, Avila went up 5-0 after three innings and led 7-2 after five. Lindenwood came back and tied it with a run in the seventh and four in the eighth. The big hit was a three-run homer by
Dan Harris to tie the contest. In the ninth, Lindenwood loaded the bases with two outs, but could not get a two-out hit. In the bottom half of the inning, Avila also loaded the bases with a single and two hit batters. The winning run then crossed the plate on a passed ball.
Harris finished the second game with two hits, a run, and four RBIs.
Shelby Anderson and
Frank Corpus both had two hits, and Malaway and
Justin Lamar had two runs apiece.
With the losses, Lindenwood falls to 41-16 on the season. The Lions must now wait to see if they earn an at-large bid to the national tournament. The program could possibly host the Opening Round Tournament of that event on May 18-21.