ST. LOUIS – [GAME ONE BOX] [GAME TWO BOX] Missouri Baptist baseball slammed 12 home runs on Tuesday and recorded 38 hits overall in 20-13 and 21-3 wins over American Midwest Conference opponent Harris Stowe State University.
Missouri Baptist (20-3, 5-0 AMC) took an early 2-0 lead in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader, but fell into a three run hole after a five-run Hornet first inning. Missouri Baptist countered with five runs in the second to re-take the lead for good. MBU scored two in the third, four in the fourth, one in the fifth and six in the sixth inning to record it's 19th win of the season.
Offense was the story in both games as Missouri Baptist recorded four doubles and five home runs in the early afternoon contest. Spartan left fielder Orlando Olivera went 5-5 with five RBI and two home runs. Brent Zimmerman also hit a home run and went 3-5 on the day. Shortstop Josh Fuentes went 3-6 with an RBI and extended his hitting streak to 18 games with an RBI double down the left field line in the second inning.
Game one also featured active runners on the base path for Missouri Baptist. The Spartans recorded eight stolen bases as Trevin Craig led the way with three. Ryan Clarke and Jeff Smith also posted two of their own in the game.
Spartan relievers Chris Cordova and Chris Kenney both pitched valuable innings in the win. Cordova picked-up the victory while Kenney came in to toss one and a third innings of one-hit ball.
"Cordova and Kenney were both solid today," said Spartan Head Coach Eddie Uschold. "We needed solid pitching to get that victory and those two really came through for us."
Curtis Sawchuck started game two for Missouri Baptist and turned the tables on the Hornets from game one. The Spartan lefty tossed five innings and allowed just three runs on eight hits to secure his third win of the season.
The scoring started in the first yet again for Missouri Baptist as Jeff Smith and Josh Fuentes led-off with back-to-back home runs to start the game. It was the first, but not the last, homerun of the game for Smith.
Larry Schimsa hit his first of two home runs to lead-off the top of the second and MBU was again off to the races. After posting two runs in both the first and second innings, the Spartans recorded four in the fourth and eight in the fifth to put the hammer down on Harris Stowe.
Jeff Smith and Larry Schimsa both hit two homeruns in the game while Brent Zimmerman, Fuentes and Eli Roundtree also went yard in the game.
"I can't say enough about how Sawchuck pitched in game two today," said Uschold. "He really stepped-up for us and both Stapp and McClaran shut the door. All-in-all, it was a very good day."
Smith, the Spartan leadoff hitter, went 5-5 with four RBI and four runs scored in the final game of the day. Vincenzo Fresquez entered the game to play first base in the fifth inning and had a great day at the plate. Fresquez was 3-3 with four RBI and two runs scored on the day.
Not to be outdone on the day was the Spartan right fielder and designated hitter Eli Roundtree. The Wisconsin native went 4-7 with five RBI over the course of the day.
Missouri Baptist will now have a couple days of rest before resuming its schedule on Friday as the Park University Pirates will come to town. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Spartan Field.
GAME NOTES
Missouri Baptist hit 12 homeruns over the course of both games on Tuesday… Orlando Olivera, Jeff Smith, Larry Schimsa, Eli Roundtree and Brent Zimmerman all hit two homeruns on Tuesday… Josh Fuentes extended his hitting streak to 19 games on Tuesday with hits in both games… Orlando Olivera has now hit safely in seven consecutive games
