McPherson, Kan. - The Tiger baseball team took on the Nelson University Lions at home this past weekend in a double header on Friday beginning at 2pm and 1 game on Saturday beginning at 12pm.

Game 1, L 11-10 
Nick Julian would start game 1 for the Tigers looking to continue his success and lead the Tigers to a series opening win. He allowed just 1 run in the first 4 innings and the Tigers scored 2 in the 2^nd inning and then 4 in the 4^th inning on a Kurt Ippolito grand slam. The Tigers took a 6-1 lead into the 5^th where the Lions would score 3 more on Julian to cut the Tiger lead to 2 runs. The Tiger offense responded with 3 of their own thanks to an Iker Muniz 2 RBI triple and a Cody Campos pinch hit RBI single. This put the Tigers in a good spot to win but once again the lions would fight back, they scored 2 in the 6^th inning and then 5 in the 7^th inning on the Tiger bullpen to steal all of the momentum and take an 11-9 lead. The Tigers threatened big time for a walk off win with a run scoring on a Braden Young double that put the tying and winning runs both in scoring position with 0 outs, but they were unable to get another run home as the Tigers lost a tough one to open up the series.

Game 2, W 7-6 
Nick Clayson started game 2 for the Tigers as they had to flush a tough loss and fight to even up the series, both teams exchanged 1 run in the opening inning and then Nelson would score another in the 2^nd then 3 in the 3^rd. Down 5-1 early the Tigers fought back with 3 runs of their own in the 4^th inning. Clayson made some adjustments and pitched 2 more innings without allowing any runs to keep the Tigers in the ballgame. Nelson plated 1 more run in the 6^th to make their lead slightly more comfortable but it wouldn't be enough to put the Tigers away. The Tiger offense tied things up in the 6^th inning with a Mason Dean RBI groundout and a Mason Bowden RBI single. In the 7^th inning Tristan Castner recorded the first out of the inning, followed by Kurt Ippolito coming in from the outfield to stop a Nelson threat and keep the score tied but the Tigers were unable to walk it off at the plate. This meant extra inning baseball and in the 8^th inning Ippolito got himself out of a bases loaded jam that gave the Tigers another chance to win the game with just 1 run and this time the offense came through. The Tigers loaded the bases up and set the table for a James Perales walkoff RBI single to even up the series with an electric win, snapping a brutal 11 game losing streak.

Game 3, L 14-11 
The rubber match of the series was nothing short of a classic high scoring barnburner, Nelson scored 5 runs in the first 2 innings to put early pressure on the Tigers but the Tiger offense came to play. Kurt Ippolito and Mason Dean both hit home runs in innings 1 and 2 to provide a spark and then the Tigers put together an electric 8 run 3^rd inning fueled by walks, a Mason Bowden RBI single, Kurt Ippolito's 2^nd grand slam of the series and 2^nd of the game, and a James Perales homerun. Unfortunately the Tiger bats were unable to stay hot throughout the rest of the game whereas Nelson began to chip away at the 10-5 Tiger lead scoring 1 run in the 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th inning. Nonetheless the Tigers held a 10-9 lead in the final inning and needed 3 outs for a series win, but the Nelson offense once again scored runs down to their last chance in similar fashion to game 1, scoring 5 on 4 hits to stun the Tigers. Kurt Ippolito hit his 3^rd homerun of the day and 4^th of the series to provide some hope for a Tiger comeback but that's all they would be able to get as the Tigers suffered a heart breaker to lose the series.

The Tigers who now sit at 3-12 in conference play, are 3 games back from College of the Ozarks for a conference tournament spot and will travel to play Oklahoma City University this upcoming weekend where they will need to win at least 1 or 2 of the 3 games to be back in decent position before returning home to play Ozarks in a huge series.