SAUGET, Ill. – [BOX SCORE GAME 1] [BOX SCORE GAME 2] Missouri Baptist baseball was swept in a doubleheader for the first time in 2014 on Tuesday evening in 8-3 and 4-3 losses on the road at Lindenwood University-Belleville.
Missouri Baptist (33-9) was never able to get its offense going on Tuesday and the production issues spurred the pair of non-conference losses.
In game one, Ryan Stapp got the start for Missouri Baptist and the Lynx got to him early. Lindenwood pounded five runs in an inning and a third before Stapp was pulled in favor of Chris Cordova.
Lindenwood's first three batters went a combined 7-10 from the plate with three RBI, two doubles, two steals and a homerun in the first game as the Spartans were handed its third loss in four games. MBU was led by Joe Stropp. The Spartan catcher was 2-3 with two RBI and a double.
The first game was held completely in control by Lindenwood-Belleville starter Mike Wuelling. The Lynx starter went the distance in a complete-game effort and allowed just three runs on seven hits to collect his second win of the season.
In the second game, MBU jumped-out to an early lead, but the Lynx came back in the following two innings. Missouri Baptist posted one in the first, but Lindenwood gained the lead after tying the game at one in the second, as the team posted two in the third to take a 3-1 advantage.
The Spartans returned the favor in the top of the sixth. MBU scored twice in the inning to tie the game at three. This was the last of the scoring until the bottom of the 10th when LU posted the game winner on a walk-off single up the middle by Kyle Forsythe to complete the sweep.
Mirek Sharp went 4-5 in the game for Lindenwood-Belleville and led the Lynx offensively in the game.
Missouri Baptist found its power hitting in game two, but was still held to three runs on an impressive 10 hits. Eli Roundtree, who returned to the field for the first time in nearly three weeks on Tuesday, hit another homerun on Tuesday. Roundtree's third round tripper in the last three games, was a two-run shot in the sixth that tied things at three.
Brent Zimmerman also went yard in the game. The Spartan third baseman hit a solo shot as the leadoff batter in the first inning to give MBU a 1-0 lead on a 1-1 pitch.
With the losses, the Spartans will try to right the ship on Wednesday as the team head on the road to take-on Culver Stockton College in Canton, Mo. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
