PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Pittsburg State Gorillas may have been shut-out by Missouri Southern in game one of their round-one series of the MIAA Baseball Championships, but they weren’t discouraged.

In fact, the Gorillas were trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth- but a solo homer by Austin Bonnel swung the momentum in Pittsburg State’s favor. The game was tied up by the bottom of the fifth inning. Then, Braedan Hinton belted out a three-run home run to take the lead in the seventh. The Gorillas never looked back as they sealed an 8-4 win over Missouri Southern.

Hinton says, “I’m not ready for this season to be over, and for me to be able to come out and perform like that, to keep our team alive, it just feels good. These senior have worked so hard. We have worked so hard since August, and just to come out here and help my team continue playing? It’s a great feeling.”

“We just gotta find a way to get to Sunday, and that’s what we did today. We didn’t back down,” says Bob Fornelli, Pittsburg State head coach. “Down 4-0, a lot of things weren’t going right for us but our kids continued to battle and give us an opportunity to play tomorrow.”

The series now stands tied at 1-1. The final game is slated for Sunday with a 1:00 first pitch. The winner of that game will play either Rogers State or Northeastern state in the next round.