KINGSPORT, Tenn. – [BOX SCORE] After a long, taxing game less than 24 hours ago, Missouri Baptist baseball needed a strong outing from Dave Mullins to get a win and help save the bullpen. The Spartan starter exceeded those wishes. The lefty went the distance and recorded a complete-game just when the team needed it, and led Missouri Baptist to a 5-2 win over No. 3-seed, Cumberland University on Tuesday.
Missouri Baptist (47-12) got the best out of the reliable Mullins in the game. The Spartan hurler was dynamite early and recorded eight strikeouts through the first four innings of the game. Mullins went the distance in the contest and recorded four, 1-2-3 innings in the outing. Through nine innings, the lefty finished with nine strikeouts and one walk in 122 pitches thrown.
Missouri Baptist needed to come-back yet again after digging themselves a one-run deficit. An error at second base allowed right-fielder Ritchie Seaton to reach in the second inning, which came around to hurt the Spartans later. Seaton scored on an RBI double by Bryan Haney in that frame to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Cumberland maintained that lead until the bottom of the fifth when Anthony Gomez got himself into some trouble. With two outs and just a runner at first (Ryan Clarke), the Bulldog hurler walked leadoff hitter Brent Zimmerman to put the tying run at second base.
With the heart of the order due-up, Gomez was called for a balk, which bumped both runners into scoring position with Josh Fuentes at the plate. The Spartan shortstop drove a pitch down the line in right field, which scored both runs, and put his team ahead for good.
One inning later, the Spartans played small ball to get, what proved to be the winning run, home. With runners at the corners and one out, Erik Garcia squared-up a sacrifice squeeze bunt to score Clarke and to extend the lead to 3-1. That was, as it turned-out, all the Spartans needed.
MBU plated two-more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to seal the deal and to send the team to its third NAIA National Championship Opening Round Title Game in as many years.
In the game, Josh Fuentes was the lone Spartan with multiple hits. The shortstop went 2-4 with two RBI while Erik Garcia drove-in two runs of his own, both on a sacrifice (sacrifice squeeze bunt and sacrifice fly).
In the ninth, Cumberland looked to make a comeback bid. Shortstop Tyler Anderson drove a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field to cut the deficit to three with a solo home run. Tyler Alford came in to pinch hit for Ritchie Seaton in the following at-bat and nearly blooped a single down in shallow right-center field, but MBU's Jeff Smith made a big diving play with his back to the plate to make the grab and record the first out.
With the win, Missouri Baptist will advance to the championship game on Wednesday, slated for 1:30pm CDT (2:30pm local). The team will need to wait to see who it will play, however. Two games remain to determine who the Spartans will see in the title game.
A Spartan win on Wednesday will send the team back to the Avista-NAIA World Series for the second-consecutive season. Last year, the Spartans advanced for the first time in program history after an Opening Round record, 19-inning ball game, against defending National Champion, Tennessee Wesleyan. In 2012, MBU was just one strike away from advancing for the first time against Lee University, but fell in a comeback effort by the Flames.
GAME NOTES
Josh Fuentes extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a first-inning single… With the hit in the first inning, Orlando Olivera set the new season record for hits at Missouri Baptist. He now has 96 on the year and leads the nation… Since getting swept by Lindenwood-Belleville in a mid-week doubleheader on April 15, the Spartans have won 14 of their last 17 games… Missouri Baptist has had consecutive losses just three times in 2014…
