It was a remarkable year for the Lindenwood athletic program in 2009-10. Over the next 10 weeks, www.lindenwoodlions.com will bring you the top 10 moments of the last school year.

The No. 8 moment comes from the Lindenwood baseball program and a wild win over Central Methodist that help propel the Lions to another HAAC Championship.

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As the 2010 baseball season wore on it was plain to see that the Lions four-game weekend series against the Central Methodist Eagles during the weekend of April 10-11 was going to go along way in the Lions trying to three-peat as HAAC Champions.

Lindenwood entered the weekend one game behind the first place teams in the HAAC, William Jewell and Avila. The team went into the weekend knowing that they could not afford any slip ups against the Eagles.

“In the CMU series, it was critical that we swept all four games so we had to play flawlessly throughout,” said head coach Doug Bletcher. “One slipup in any game and we were not going to win conference. Every player was actually aware of this so there was a certain amount of tension in the air to begin with.”

The series started with the Lions winning game one in a commanding performance by a 12-2 score. The Lions offense was on mark pounding out 13 hits in the opening game and took a lot of confidence into the second game.

Randy Serrato would start on the hill for the Lions in game two taking on Ryan Revior of Central Methodist. Both pitchers settled into the game early on, breezing through the first two innings by allowing no hits.

The first sign of trouble popped up for the Lions and Serrato in the bottom of the third inning. The leadoff hitter would fly out to leftfield but the following hitter singled on a sharp ground ball. Serrato came right back after the hit and struck out the next hitter. With a runner on first base and two outs the Eagles would string together five straight hits and bring across four runs.

One thing about the 2010 edition of the Lindenwood baseball team, it had knack for answering big innings with big innings of its own and this game was no different.

“Trailing by four in this particular game certainly added some concern but it was incredibly early so even if we scored only one run or so, I think most of the guys felt that we were going to be ok,” Bletcher said.

The players were correct, they were just fine. Lindenwood answered the Eagles' four run inning with a five run frame of its own. It all started with Frank Corpus being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Game one's starter on the mound, Zach Malawey, hit his ninth homerun of the season to cut the lead in half.

The homerun was just the start for the Lions as catcher Casey Colbert followed the round tripper with a single then Dan Harris would jump into the hit parade with a single of his own. After an Andy Kuehn sacrifice bunt to move up the runners Cody Anderson would single up the middle to score the Lions' third run.
That would be all for the Eagles' starter as the next victim of the Lions' offense was Charlie Dittrich who gave up two consecutive hits to Justin Lamar and Shelby Anderson.

“Most of the players were just about sprinting to the batter's box for the opportunity to hit,” Bletcher said. “A short porch at Central Methodist even had our pitchers begging for an opportunity to hit.”

The inning would finally come to a close with Lindenwood piling up five runs on six hits and taking the lead 5-4.

After back-to-back big innings for both teams, Seratto was able to slow down the Eagles in the bottom of the fourth while the Lion offense would bring across another tally in the top of the fifth via a Corpus home run to extend the lead to 6-4.

With the Lions leading by two heading into the bottom of the fifth inning the Eagles offense would once again come alive. The inning began with the home team stringing together four consecutive hits that would lead to two runs to tie up the score.

After Serrato induced a ground-out, his day would be done as he gave way to Joey Vega. The Lions' closer would be welcomed by two straight RBI singles by the Eagles. Vega would settle down and get the next hitter to pop out to first. After a hit-by-pitch the Eagles would have the bases loaded and Carlos Martinez at the dish trying to break the game wide open but Vega was up to the task, striking him out to keep his team alive.

The four-run inning was the second of the game for the Eagles and they would take an 8-6 lead heading into the sixth inning. After Central Methodist scored its first four run inning the Lions answered with a five run inning of their own but this time it would be different. They would answer with six.

The sixth inning would open with three straight walks to load the bases. Carlos Pianetta would strike out for the first out of the inning but after another free pass, Malawey would single to drive in another run.

With the bases still loaded the Eagles defense would let down its hurler. Colbert would reach on an error that scored a run, then Kuehn would also reach on an error by the shortstop that scored a run. When the inning finally came to a close the Lions scored six times on only one hit.

The defense in the sixth was the story of that inning but neither team was very good in the field throughout the game. The two teams combined for seven errors, three for Lindenwood and four for Central Methodist. With all of the mistakes neither team was able to get into a good rhythm.

“No question about it the defensive play was very surprising,” Bletcher said. “It has a cumulative effect and it is up to the players to basically beg for the ball to be hit to them so they can take care of business and right the ship.”

After the half dozen runs the Lions would bring across, they would hold a 12-8 lead heading into the home half of the sixth inning. The scoring would not stop as the Eagles would cut the lead to 12-11 with a three-run frame.

But one good thing for the Lions in this slugfest was that they were still leading heading into the top of the seventh inning. Even more good news came when they would extend the lead to 14-11 via Corpus' second home run of the game.

With the Lions closer, Vega, still in the game the Eagles' first two hitters would go down on a pair of pop outs to first base. Now the Lions would be just one out from taking the first two games of this pivotal series. The Eagles' last hope was Adam Arnette, who kept the game going with a single. Then he would steal second in front of a walk.

The Eagles would have first and second with two outs and the tying run at the plate. This time it was the Lion defense that would aid in surrendering a run. First baseman Shelby Anderson would be charged with an error to allow a run and more importantly extend the game.

With the tying run on second, Thomas Brown would lace a double to bring in both runs and tie the score at 14. After Vega gave up the lead the Lions would turn to Jeff Wilkins, who would turn out to be the pitching hero of the game for the Lions. The first hitter Wilkins would face would ground out and the game would go into extra innings.

Even though the Lions surrendered the lead coach Bletcher and his team realized that it still had a chance and had to just overcome it and win the game.

“It is what it is,” Bletcher said. “This is going to happen many times during the season and it is up the players to let it go and get ready for the next inning.”

The extra inning game was the second of the year for the Lions and held a 1-0 mark after beating Missouri Valley in eight innings the previous weekend.

Extras started with both teams going scoreless in the eighth inning. Moving to the ninth inning the Lions offense picked back up where they left off earlier in the game. The inning started with Corpus leading off with a single followed by a Malaway single.

With runners at first and second and no outs the Eagles' defense would once again strike, for the second time Colbert reached with help from an error.

The bases were now loaded for Harris who launched a grand slam over the fence to put the Lions back in the lead, and for good this time.

Now with a four run lead the Lions trotted out Wilkins for his third inning of work to shut the door. And that is exactly what he did. He would give up one hit but that would be all the Eagles could muster and Lindenwood would hold on for the win.

Wilkins gave the Lions 2 1/3 huge innings only giving up one hit and striking out one, to keep his team in the game.

“Jeff certainly had an unsung hero aspect to his season as I didn't give him enough credit but this was yet another example of him doing a great job when others were struggling,” Bletcher said about his reliever.

“Whenever you get a chance to pitch in a game as big as this one, you are always a little more amped up than normal,” Wilkins said about his performance. “I know I was and was able to use that energy to my advantage. I came focused and was able make the pitches I needed to get those big outs. I think it definitely was a big boost for the team and I because I knew it had to be done and it switched the momentum in a big way.”

It was a wild game from the start as there would be three ties, 32 runs scored, 35 hits, seven total errors, eight extra base hits, and five hit by pitches.

“I haven't been in too many games like that,” Wilkins said. “We have all been a part of those lopsided games where you run up the score or it happens to you, but not many times have I been apart of a game where the scoring went back and forth as much as it did that day.”

Leading the way at the plate for the Lions was Corpus who was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two homeruns. Cody Anderson, Shelby Anderson, Lamar, Malawey and Harris all had at least two hits.

After the win the Lions would go on to sweep the Eagles the next day and take all four games over the weekend. The four wins would help the Lions clinch their third straight regular season HAAC championship later in the season.

The season would come to a close for the Lions in the HAAC championship game as they lost to Avila. Lindenwood would compile an overall record of 41-16 and a HAAC mark of 20-8.

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