It was a tale of two games in Monday's Heart of America Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader between Clarke (Iowa) University and Culver-Stockton College at Himsl Field in Canton, Mo.

After failing to hold a three-run lead in the seventh inning and losing 8-7 in the opener, the Wildcats found themselves down 7-2 in the final inning of the nightcap and in danger of dropping the doubleheader and the series.

However, the Wildcats exploded for six runs off of three Pride pitcher to do the unfathomable and rallied for an 8-7 victory to earn a spit of the twin bill and the series.

The Wildcats entered their final at-bat with just six hits through the first six innings. But after a pair of walks to Ryan Osso and Noble Oxford opened the decisive inning, C-SC registered three straight hits, including a two-run single by Tristan Meny and a run-scoring single by Kannon Kirk to bring the Wildcats to within 7-5.

Jordan Scott walked to load the bases and Bryan Barreto delivered a RBI single to get C-SC to within a run at 7-6 and still no out recorded.

After Wyatt Wright struck out for the first out in the inning, Jackson Day singled to right field and it appeared the Wildcats were going to win the game. Kirk scored to tie the game but Jordan Scott was gunned down at the plate for the second out in the inning.

Osso walked for a second time in the inning to re-load the bases, and then Oxford drilled a sharp line drive to the left-center field gap to score courtesy runner Eli Friend with a winning run. C-SC recorded six hits and was given four walks in the inning as they improved to 13-22-1 overall and 10-10 in the Heart. Clarke dropped to 16-20 overall and 11-9 in the Heart.

The first game was just the opposite as the Wildcats built a 7-4 lead through six innings before the Pride plated four runs on five hits and two walks steal a victory.

C-SC scored three times in the first inning on a two-run single by Barreto and a run-scoring single by Day. 

After Clarke grabbed a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth, the Wildcats answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning as Scott drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and a second run scored on an error.

C-SC added two insurance runs in the sixth inning on a sac fly by Jaison Andujar and a RBI single by Meny.

Meny led the offensive attack with four hits in six at-bats and five runs batted in in the doubleheader. Barreto had three RBI's in the first game to go along with a run batted in in the nightcap. 

The Wildcats are slated to play a four-game series this Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13 against Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan. The first game each day is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.