In similar fashion to how Darius Dampier, Trace Roy and Cody Presley helped power the Bears over Hinds earlier in the week, it was a different group of sophomores in Jake Meilstrup and Noah Russ who led the charge Sunday, helping Southwest get past No. 22 Lansing 5-2 in Game 1 of a three-team round robin tournament. The Bears unfortunately lost the nightcap 9-0 to No. 5 Pearl River.

Russ got the win in Game 1 going 5.1 innings giving up only two hits, two runs (one earned) and three walks while striking out one.  

Meilstrup led the offense going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. After the game, he said that his speed is a factor in his offensive performance.
 
"My speed gives me the chance to get on base so if I put the ball in play, I always have a chance to get on base," he said.
 
Meilstrup also set a new career high with four stolen bases in the game.

After the games, Southwest head coach Jack Edmonson said that other than a rough outing to start Game 2 against the Wildcats, he was pleased with how his team played all day against two tough opponents.
 
"I thought that we played really well all day," Edmonson said. "If you take away the first inning of the second game and we played really good all day. That makes 6-8 games (lately) that we have played really good baseball."
 
In Game 1, the Bears (7-12) fell behind early as an unfortunate error put the Stars up 1-0.
 
But Southwest answered right back in the second, continuing its stellar play with the bats. Cooper Lewis led off with a single and touched home three at bats later on an RBI single from Presley, tying the game at 1.
 
Russ — who got his first start of the season — settled down afterward and kept Lansing from answering, picking up a strikeout in the process as well.
 
"I felt great up there, I just wanted to go in and throw a lot of strikes, get ahead of batters and that is what I did," Russ said. "I started getting in a little groove, hitting all of my spots, trusting the pitch call and it worked out pretty good."
 
He got help from his offense in the second as Meilstrup singled and later scored.

Cam Bolden kept the momentum on the home side with an RBI double to right scoring Lewis and giving Southwest a 3-1 lead.
 
Russ retired the side in order in the third and fourth innings before a Lane Steinwinder double in the bottom half of the fourth brought Meilstrup home, making it a 4-1 game.
 
Lansing responded with a run in the fifth, cutting the Southwest lead in half. But the Bears got the run back in the bottom of the sixth, once again making it a three-run lead at 5-2 following a Roy single allowing Steinwinder to touch home.
 
Davis Knight, who came on in relief of Russ, kept up with the strong pitching, shutting the door on the Stars to preserve the win and pick up the save. 

In addition to Meilstrup's big day, Steinwinder also shined going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
 
In the nightcap, the Bears unfortunately ran into trouble early on against the Wildcats, falling behind 6-0 in the first inning.
 
They tried to answer and got a single from Steinwinder in the first but he was stranded.

Jackson Hawsey, who came on in relief on the mound, kept the Wildcats mostly at bay over the next few innings giving up only one run in the third,
which made the score 7-0.
 
The offense tried to get into rhythm and got another single by Jonathon Miller in the third but he was unable to score.
 
Pearl River scored its final two runs in the fifth before taking the game. 
 
Southwest will return to action on Tuesday in another round robin in Ellisville, facing No. 12 Jones at 11 a.m. and Northeast at 2 p.m.