JOPLIN, Mo. – The Roosevelt offense was in full force on Saturday and Sunday to help the Lakers leave Joplin, Missouri with a split of their four games in the Show Me State.

Over the course of the four games, the Lakers batted .322 with 16 extra-base hits, including three home runs, and they averaged 11 runs per game. Most of that offense came Sunday when the Lakers pounded out 32 runs on 22 hits in their doubleheader split.

Saturday's first game against William Woods showed no signs of the offensive explosion that was due to come over the next three games of the weekend. The Owls won a hard-fought 4-3 contest against the Lakers by scratching the winning run across in the top of the sixth inning. Noah Mathias took the loss for the Lakers as their opening-day starter, throwing six innings and allowing just six hits while striking out four.

William Woods took the early 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning, but Roosevelt promptly responded in the bottom half of the frame on Ben Compton's 2-RBI double that scored JoJo Mack and Daniel Gutierrez, both of whom had singled earlier in the inning. When the Owls reclaimed a lead in the fifth inning, the Lakers came back in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game when Compton reached first and Gutierrez scored on a throwing error.

Roosevelt's offense began in earnest in the second game Saturday against Evangel when the Lakers piled on seven runs in the first three innings en route to a 9-2 win. Kerry Zeese allowed just one hit in five innings on the mound as he received all the run support a pitcher could want from the offense.

Sean Blanchard went 2 for 5 with two runs scored and Sherman Martin went 3 for 4 with a pair of runs scored immediately after him in the lineup to set the table. Bryce Hayman opened the scoring in the first inning by scoring on a wild pitch then A.J. Gliwa worked a bases-loaded walk in the second inning. However, Gutierrez broke the game wide open with a bases-loaded single to center field later in the second that scored all three runners due to a fielding error in center field.

Only four of Roosevelt's runs against the Valor were earned as the Lakers added two more runs in the later innings after runners reached on errors. The Lakers finished with six total errors on the weekend and allowed six unearned runs in total over the four games.

There was no shortage of offense in Sunday's first game against Morningside as the Lakers scored six in the first inning. However, despite holding a 19-8 lead after their half of the sixth, the Lakers fell 20-19 to the Mustangs after allowing four runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Roosevelt started the game against Morningside on a promising note with Jaylen Heard rocketing a three-run homer in his first plate appearance of the season. Jack Kieffer followed with his own home run to cap off the six-run first for the Lakers. Heard left the yard again in the third inning, this time a two-run shot, and Hayman followed with a double to give the Lakers a 9-3 lead.

The Lakers added seven more runs in the fifth and three in the sixth with Darst driving in three runs to finish with five RBIs on the game. Roosevelt quickly got two outs from Morningside in the bottom of the sixth before the Mustangs drilled seven straight hits off two pitchers to close the gap to 19-16 before Krzysztof Solis shut the door with a strikeout. Solis had no such luck in the seventh as the Mustangs completed the walk-off win with four in the seventh.

It took a bit for the Lakers' offense to reignite in the second game Sunday, but when the bats got going, Graceland could not stop Roosevelt from powering to a 13-10 win. The Lakers scored five runs in the third then added six more in the sixth to solidify the win and return to Chicago with a 2-2 record.

The Lakers fell behind 3-0 to the Yellowjackets but then scored their first two runs of the game when Blanchard and Darst were hit by pitches with the bases loaded in the third. Martin followed with a bases-clearing double to center and advanced to third on the throw. Gutierrez doubled home a pair of runs in the fourth inning to stake the Lakers to a 7-3 lead, but that all disappeared in the top of the sixth when Graceland pushed across five runs.

However, the resilient Lakers responded yet again in the bottom half of the inning with Gutierrez driving home a pair on a single down the right-field line. Blanchard brought in a run on a double then two batters later, Diego Munoz cleared the bases on a bases-loaded double to give Roosevelt the 13-8 advantage. Connor Houlahan earned his first save of the season after the Lakers allowed two runs in the top of the seventh.

Roosevelt now hits the road for a four-game series at NCAA Division I Alcorn State that begins Friday at 6 p.m. The Lakers and Braves will play a doubleheader Saturday that is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. before they close out the set Sunday at 11 a.m.