ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist baseball recorded four, three-run innings over Campbellsville University on Thursday in a dominant 13-3 win on the road.
Missouri Baptist (2-3) spent last weekend dealing with three of the best teams in the NAIA and used that experience to its advantage in a neutral site game held at Belhaven University in Jackson, Miss. The Spartans recorded 20 hits and no errors in the game on the way to the team's second win of the year.
Orlando Olivera led the way for Missouri Baptist on the day. The left fielder went 4-5 with two RBI and a stolen base. The Miami, Fla., native is leading the team with a .450 average and a .500 slugging percentage in five games.
MBU struck first blood in the bottom of the first. Olivera singled-home Dan Harper from second with one out to put his team up 1-0. After a base hit from Enrique Pagan, Olivera stole third and scored on the next at-bat. Joe Stropp doubled to right-center, which scored both Olivera and Pagan, and gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead after one inning.
Stropp, the designated hitter in the game, went 1-3 with a walk.
The Spartans posted another run in the second, but were then held scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. MBU again drove-in three runs to make it a 7-1 lead, thanks to four-consecutive singles to lead-off the inning. After a Josh Fuentes leadoff base hit, center fielder Ryan Clarke used his speed and legged-out a bunt single to the pitcher to make it first and second with no outs.
Spartan third baseman Brent Zimmerman singled to score Fuentes, and MBU was again on the board. Zimmerman finished the day 3-5 with three runs scored and three RBI.
Pier-Olivier Dostaler drove-in the second run of the inning in the next at-bat. The second baseman singled, which drove-in Clarke, and extended the lead to 9-1.
Pagan later batted the final run of the inning across the plate, which gave his team a 10-1 lead heading into the eighth.
The Tigers added two runs in the top of the eighth, but MBU bested that number in the bottom-half. The Spartans recorded three runs on three hits in the bottom of the eighth and secured its second win of the year.
Brandon Zywicky picked-up his first win as a Spartan in seven solid innings of work. The junior from Minnesota allowed three runs on six hits while he struck-out four. Carl Jameson came on in relief in the eighth and threw a remarkable nine pitches in two innings to get six quick outs and seal the deal.
Missouri Baptist will continue its road trip on Friday in a face-off against University of Saint Francis. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. in Jackson, Miss.
