ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist baseball made it 18 in a row on Friday against its closest conference competitor, Lyon College. The Spartans traveled to the NAIA No. 23-ranked Scots and won 3-1 before dropping their first game in nearly a month, 5-3.
Missouri Baptist (23-6) needed just one inning to grab the lead for good against a Scots team that had lost just one conference game in 2013. MBU's Patrick Johnson again came up big as the leadoff hitter in game one. The shortstop set the table for the big first inning with a leadoff single. Johnson came around to score later on a Garret Vail two-run double. Johnson finished 2-4 in the game.
After his double, Vail came around to score thanks to a Joe Stropp RBI single. Stropp and Vail both finished the game 1-3 at the plate. Ryan Gunhouse also provided the Spartan offense a big lift. The senior outfielder went 2-4 in the win.
Ethan Gibbons started game one and was lights-out. He threw six innings and allowed one run on just four hits. He also recorded four strikeouts on the day.
In game two, Lyon tied the game at two in the bottom of the third, but it wasn't until the sixth inning that the team was able to grab a permanent lead. The Scots led 3-2 after five, but posted two more runs in the bottom of the sixth that proved to be the difference.
With Curtis Sawchuck on the mound in the sixth inning, MBU's Pier Olivier-Dostaler committed a costly error, which put the first of the two runs in the inning at third base with no outs. A sacrifice fly by Kris Kohlstedt drove in the run and a Sawchuck wild pitch later in the inning allowed Wesley Roberson to score, making it a 5-2 Lyon lead.
Missouri Baptist posted one final run in the ninth, but Mykol Sostarich grounded out to second with two away and a runner at first to end the threat and the game.
MBU was led by catcher Joe Stropp in game two. The Florida native went 2-3 and is now batting .345 on the year. Sostarich, Garrett Vail and Jo Jo Taylor each drove in a single run in the game.
This series picks back up on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The Spartans will send Mike Avila to the hill in the first game as Chris Walker is still on the mend. Last week, Nathan Utt replaced Walker as a weekend starter, taking the mound in game four of the Harris Stowe Series. Utt may get his second opportunity to make a start in a key conference game in Saturday's second game of the twin bill.
Among the games in the NAIA over the weekend, this series represents one of the best of the bunch as the conference opponents battle to move up the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
Game Notes
Game two marked the first loss in conference play this season for Missouri Baptist although the Spartans remain in first place in the AMC with a split after day one. Missouri Baptist is now 17-1 in conference play and is 3-2 on the year against ranked opponents. MBU is also 1-1 against No. 15 Cumberland and 0-2 against No. 21 Campbellsville, neither of who were ranked at the time that the Spartans played them. Spartan shortstop Patrick Johnson has the longest active base hits streak. Johnson has hit safely in his last eight including both of Friday's games.
