Missouri Baptist ended its regular season in stunning fashion, defeating the Freed Hardeman Lions 16-5 to cap off the series sweep.
The Spartans started quickly by scoring 6 in the top of the first as lead off hitter Trevin Craig found himself at the plate twice before even taking the field for defense.
From there, the Spartans were held scoreless in only two innings of the seven inning ballgame. Josh Fuentes and Jeff smith combined for eight hits and six runs on the day.
Smith went 4-5 with a double and home run, tallying up 5 RBIs and 3 runs on the day. Along with Smith, Joe Stropp put one over the fence in his first at-bat to mark his 3 runs driven in for the game. He would end the day going 3-5 at the plate.
Other Spartans with multi-hit games include Orlando Olivera (3-5) and Ryan Clarke (2-4).
Three Spartan pitchers took the mound in the win. Starter Michael Yarborough threw 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strike outs. Chris Cordova cleaned up the sixth inning to retire the final two outs, then handed it over to Chris Kenney for the final inning of the game.
The Spartans finish the season 42-10 and 22-5 in conference play, one game ahead of Lyon College (21-6).
The American Midwest Conference Tournament will kick off on Thursday May 1. Brackets are expected to be posted on the American Midwest Conference website by the end of Monday, April 28.
