KINGSPORT, Tenn. – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist baseball needed exactly 11 runs on Monday in order to move-on in the winner's bracket of the 2014 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. The Spartans struggled through sloppy play at times, but got the big hits when they counted to grab an 11-10 victory in game one.
Missouri Baptist (46-12) needed nine innings and exactly 11 runs in order to take-down a motivated Culver-Stockton College squad that looked to play spoiler for the second time on Monday. The No. 5-seed Wildcats advanced to the winner's bracket with a win over No. 4-seeded Bryan College in the first game of the day in Kingsport and nearly recorded their second upset.
The Wildcats got on the board early, though Missouri Baptist battled back every time adversity hit. Culver-Stockton led it 1-0 heading into the second, but the Spartans answered with two-runs to give themselves a 2-1 lead.
Both teams continued to trade blows as Spartan starter Brandon Zywicki had a rocky start. The Spartan ace went just four innings and allowed six runs, five of them earned, on 10 hits. By the time Zywicki exited the game, MBU trailed 6-3, but the offense rallied to the aid of its pitcher.
Down 6-3, Orlando Olivera put the Spartans back on the board and cut the deficit to two with one swing of the bat. The left-fielder drove the first pitch he saw on a line over the left field wall to make it a 6-4 game. Then, just one inning later, Joe Stropp followed with a solo shot of his own to cut the Wildcat lead to one. Stropp, along with Eli Roundtree and Olivera all recorded home runs in the game for MBU, each one of the solo variety.
The Spartans tied the game in the sixth off an RBI double by Jeff Smith and just like that, Missouri Baptist was back in it. The team continued to roll as the game progressed. After a Wildcat run crossed the plate in the bottom of the sixth, MBU came back to take a lead yet again.
The Spartans plated four runs in the top of the eighth, led by a leadoff double by Stropp. The designated hitter was sensational at the plate and went 4-4 with two runs scored and a home run to lead the team. Just as things seem to all be falling into place, holding a 10-7 lead, controversy struck. Lightning in the area forced the game to be halted for near 30 minutes as Eli Roundtree was at the plate with two outs and runners at first and second.
After approximately 30 minutes and not a hint of rain or thunder, play resumed. Two pitches later, Roundtree grounded-out to take the game to the bottom of the eighth.
The Wildcats made one final push and it was nearly enough. Culver-Stockton put three runs on the board in the bottom-half of the inning to tie the game at 10. MBU, however, had one final bullet left. Enrique Pagan pinch-hit and singled to center, and, after a one-out walk issued to Brent Zimmerman, Jeff Smith came-up big yet again. The Spartan second-baseman doubled down the right-field line, which scored Pagan, and put the team from St. Louis up for good.
In the bottom of the ninth, Michael Murano had to deal with the heart of the Wildcat order and the game's final result nearly went the other way. With one on and no outs, right fielder Danny Carroll gave a ball a ride deep into left field, which looked as if it may have the distance to win it for Culver-Stockton. Orlando Olivera, however, tracked it down and neutralized the threat to post the first out of the inning.
Culver-Stockton was led by its No. two and three hitters, Trent Brisboe and Cody Jacobson. The duo combined for six hits and six RBI in the game.
For Missouri Baptist, Orlando Olivera, Jeff Smith, Brent Zimmerman and Erik Garcia all posted two hits in the game. The Nos. 7-9 hitters in the order combined to go 6-13 with six RBI on the day. In fact, both of Zimmerman's and Smith's hits were doubles.
As a team, Missouri Baptist hit .372 on the day while the Wildcats hit .357.
With the win, Missouri Baptist will move-on in the winner's bracket of the Opening Round and will play Cumberland University (Tenn.) for the chance to head to the Championship game. Cumberland upset No. 2-seed Brewton-Parker in game two earlier in the day in order to advance in the winner's bracket. Tuesday's game will begin at 1:30 CDT and will be covered live on the Spartan Digital Network.
