ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist baseball took advantage of three Park University errors in the third inning and posted five runs on the way to a 7-4 victory on Friday. The win tied the Spartans for the most consecutive wins in team history at 21 games.
Missouri Baptist (21-3, 6-0 AMC) continued its hot streak on Friday as Brandon Zywicki picked-up his team-leading sixth win of the season, which ties him for third in the NAIA. The Spartan starter was very good yet again and held the Pirates to one run on seven hits in seven innings of work. The junior tallied five strikeouts in the game.
The Spartans took advantage of three costly errors in the bottom of the third inning and never trailed in the contest.
In the third, after being held hitless in the first two innings, Park starter Milan Pleacher surrendered his first hit of the game and from this point forward, the wheels came off for the Park defense. Erik Garcia grounded into what looked like a double play, when the throw from shortstop Josh Garcia traveled off a glove and into right-center, which allowed both runners to remain on the basepath.
After a Ryan Clarke single to load the bases, Jeff Smith reached second on a bobbled throw by Pirate third baseman Kyzer Hoover. The error allowed the first two MBU runs to cross the plate on the way to the five-run inning.
Park posted one run in the sixth, but Missouri Baptist answered with a two-run seventh and extended its lead to 7-1.
The Pirates made one final push in the top of the ninth and managed three runs to cut the MBU lead to three, but that was as close as it got. Ryan Stapp came into the game to relieve Zywicki and tossed two innings to preserve the win for the Spartan starter.
Clarke led the way for Missouri Baptist. The Ontario native went 2-4 from the plate with one run scored.
The wind became a factor on Friday for both teams as it was an adventure in the outfield at times. In the seventh inning, Eli Roundtree hit a laser down the right field line and looked to be a sure homerun, but the wind not only knocked the ball down at the wall, but blew it off line by about 10 feet to where the ball dropped down inside fair territory. Roundtree was able to get a triple out of the hit as the Spartans posted two more in the inning.
The Pirates posted their first run in the sixth, but added three more in the final inning. The late comeback bit, however, fell just short as Stapp got Shaun Williams Jr. to ground out to short to end the game.
Missouri Baptist maintained its lead on the AMC with Friday's win and is now set to break the consecutive win streak with a win in game one of Saturday's doubleheader vs. the Pirates. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at Spartan Field. Lefty Dave Mullins is scheduled to get the start in game one while Michael Yarborough will put his 5-0 record on the line in game two.
GAME NOTES
Missouri Baptist tied its all-time consecutive wins streak record on Friday after picking-up its 21st win of the year… Josh Fuentes' hitting streak came to an end at 19 games on Friday as the shortstop was held to 0-2 on the day… MBU now holds the best record in the NAIA at 21-3
