Box Score CLEVELAND, Tenn. - A big sixth inning for Missouri Baptist proved to be too much for the Freed-Hardeman Lions to overcome, and now FHU faces elimination after falling 9-6 on the first day of the NAIA Baseball National Championships Opening Round.

The Spartans scored four times with two outs in the top of the sixth to turn what was a 4-3 Lion lead into a 7-4 deficit for Freed-Hardeman. Evan Mansell's error with two outs extended the inning and Missouri Baptist made the most of it, following with a two-run triple by Patrick Johnson and an RBI single by Ryan Barban.

Barban's single ended the day for Lion starter Roberto Ferguson (8-2), who lost his second straight decision after going unbeaten in regular season play. He allowed seven runs, three earned, on nine hits in 5-2/3 innings while walking four.

FHU got a run back in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI groundout by Pete Trollinger that scored Ben Ihde from third. But MBU responded with two runs in the top of the ninth, going ahead by four runs as the Lions were down to their final three outs.

Kyle Dearing led off the bottom of the ninth with a double and scored two batters later on Robert Prieto's single. After Mansell popped out, Ihde kept the inning alive with a single to left-center and brought the potential tying run to the plate in Jesse Hykes, but Hykes grounded out to third to end the game.

Both teams had 14 hits in the game, but the Lions stranded nine runners and hit into two double plays. Ihde had three hits while Mansell, Kirkland Wheeler, Trollinger and Jake Todd each had two.

FHU (36-22) now must win out in order to advance from the Cleveland Bracket to the Avista-NAIA World Series. The Lions begin that quest tomorrow at noon facing fourth-seeded Avila (Mo.), which lost to Bacone (Okla.) earlier in the day 5-1.