Springfield, Mo. -- The Lewis University baseball team fell to Drury University 8-7 Friday. 

The Flyers opened their series against Drury with a loss that pushed their overall record to 5-12 while Drury improved to 10-7. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 
Lewis jumped out ahead right away in the top of the first off the bat of junior Daniel O'Brien (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) hitting a two run home run to put Lewis up 2-0 early. 

It was an active bottom of the third for Drury as they had a dominant half inning, bringing around six runs on six hits to take the lead at 6-2. It started with an RBI single from Jackson Crider, followed by an RBI double from Logan Reidelberger which forced a Lewis pitching change. Connor Bain collected a sacrifice fly and Greydon Miller tripled to right field for another Drury run. 

The Panther hit parade continued against Lewis pitching with an RBI single from Jackson Edwards and another RBI single from Colin McClure. With the bases loaded, the Flyers finally worked their way out of the inning stranding three more runners on. 

Drury added on in the bottom of the fifth once again when Crider knocked in two more runs to make the deficit 8-2. 

The Flyers worked their way back in the top of the eighth after junior Alex Chaltlin went after the new Drury pitcher with a leadoff double to left. O'Brien later hit a single and then advancing to second on the throw which allowed Chaltlin to score to make it 8-3. Back-to-back RBI base hits from freshman Chris Daugherty (Chicago, Ill/Brother Rice) and junior Brian Twomey (Brookfield, Ill./Riverside Brookfield) made it 8-5 which led to another Panthers pitching change. 

A wild pitch allowed Daugherty to score to make it 8-6. Freshman Constantine Coins singled to the right side for another RBI to push the score to within one at 8-7 before a third Drury pitching change in the inning. 

Anthony Vita picked up the win going 6.2 innings of shutout baseball allowing six hits with two walks and three strikeouts to secure the win for the Panthers. 

UP NEXT
This weekend the Flyers will stay in Springfield, Missouri until next week continuing their series against Drury University. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday (Mar. 14) with first pitch for the first game slated for 1:00PM CST while the second game is scheduled for 4:30PM CST.