ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist baseball posted 13 runs on 12 hits while Orlando Olivera sent two balls over the wall in a 13-4 win over Benedictine-Springfield on Monday.
Missouri Baptist (37-10, 19-5) surrendered one run early and allowed Benedictine-Springfield to get within one run before exploding for eight over three innings to complete the season sweep of the Bulldogs in 2014.
Carl Jameson got the nod on the hill in Monday's series finale and the Spartan starter was sharp early. One of the most reliable relievers in 2014, Jameson got the start and showed the ability to pitch well over the one to two innings he is used to. Jameson went six full innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits. He tossed just 87 pitches and seven strikeouts in the outing and grabbed his first win of the season.
After trailing 1-0 after a half-inning, Missouri Baptist jumped all over Benedictine-Springfield starter Luke Lavin. The Spartans posted three runs on four hits in the bottom of the first as Lavin was the first of many pitchers for the Bulldogs. With two on and one out, Olivera sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center to give Missouri Baptist its first, and last, lead of the day.
Missouri Baptist continued to post runs as the power bats came to play on Monday. After a Dan Harper single with one out in the bottom of the third, Olivera muscled-up on his second ball of the day, sending it over the left field wall to tack-on two more runs for the home team.
The Bulldogs came back, however. Benedictine-Springfield posted three runs in the top of the sixth, but Jameson held strong and got the outs when he needed them, exiting with a one-run lead.
Missouri Baptist answered the bell in the bottom-half of the inning. With the bases loaded and one out, reigning AMC Player of the Week Joe Stropp scored on a passed ball to extend the lead to 6-4. With two out and runners at second and third, Josh Fuentes doubled down the left-field line to record two more and made it an 8-4 lead.
The Spartans tacked-on five more runs in the final two innings, led by Stropp's solo shot in the seventh, as the Spartans grabbed a full-game lead in the AMC to enter the final weekend of conference play in the regular season.
Missouri Baptist will now have two more games remaining this week, a doubleheader against Culver-Stockton College on Tuesday, before heading to Henderson, Tenn., to take-on the Freed-Hardeman Lions on Friday and Saturday.
