SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Last year, the Lions had to battle through the elimination bracket at the American Midwest Conference tournament and almost reached the championship game.

They'll have to do the same thing this year, as Missouri Baptist sent the Lions into win-or-go-home territory with a 7-4 win over FHU on Friday evening.

The Spartans never trailed after scoring three times in the top of the first off of Freed-Hardeman starter Jack Coleman (7-2). Two more runs in the fifth made it 5-0 as the Lions had trouble getting anything going against MBU starter David Mullins, who threw a perfect game in his last outing.

FHU finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out, two-run single by Nathan Van Nortwick. But the Lions would be unable to get any closer as the teams traded runs over the course of the next three innings.

MBU added a run in the sixth, and the Lions answered in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Van Nortwick. Both teams scored a run in the eighth, although FHU missed an opportunity by leaving runners on the corners after Zac Carter's RBI double.

Marcus Crescentini struck out the side in the ninth around a walk to J.C. Daily to close out the game for Missouri Baptist.

Hits were almost even as MBU had nine and FHU had eight. Carter and Garrett Ferguson each had two hits for the Lions (34-13).

FHU now needs to win three straight games in order to advance to the championship and earn an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament. The quest starts at 2:00 PM tomorrow against Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.).