WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. - With two swings of the bat, the face of the game changed.

Lincoln Lakoff and Robert Prieto hit back-to-back home runs as part of a six-run seventh inning, leading the Freed-Hardeman Lions to a series-opening win over Williams Baptist (Ark.) College on Friday afternoon, 10-7.

Trailing 6-4 entering the top of the seventh, the Lions (28-16, 14-8) got the big inning they needed with five straight hits to start. Lakoff's three-run shot (1) - the fourth of the five consecutive hits - put FHU ahead 8-6, and Prieto followed with a solo shot for his seventh homer of the season. The Lions scored one more run before the Eagles got out of the inning, taking a 10-6 lead.

Joe Creasy did the rest, working the final three innings allowing one run on two hits and striking out four to earn his sixth save of the season. Brandon Guske (1-0) earned his first win after tossing a perfect sixth inning in relief of Dan Creighton.

Both teams scored early with Williams Baptist getting five runs in the first two innings while FHU plated four in the second. A Mitchell Dennis double in the bottom of the second gave the Eagles a lead they would hold until the seventh.

The Lions, though, got things rolling in the seventh with a pinch-hit single by Storm Bates, starting off what proved to be the decisive inning.

Prieto had two hits for FHU as did Kyle Dearing, Garrett Ferguson and Connor Kohlscheen, helping the Lions to a 13-11 edge in hits on the day.

The win kept the Lions a game behind William Woods (Mo.) for fourth place in conference and 3.5 games behind conference-leading Missouri Baptist in what proves to be a tight race over the last five games of the regular season. The series with WBC concludes on Saturday with a double-header beginning at noon.