Box Score ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist baseball dug a three run hole heading into the ninth inning against the No. 1-ranked Cumberland University before changing its fate with one swing of the bat. MBU tied the game in the top-half of the inning and posted two go-ahead runs in the 10th, and grabbed a 5-3 win on Friday.
Missouri Baptist (7-0) looked to be headed toward its first loss of the 2015 season going into the final inning, when the team put together a clutch performance to tie the contest at 3-3.
Eli Roundtree led-off the inning with a triple and came around to score as Aaron Pangilinan grounded out to short. With one on and one out, Tim Cusick came to the plate and put the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall to tie the game.
The Spartan offense continued to roll in the 10th and things, once again, were kick started by Eli Roundree. The Milwaukee, Wis., native singled to right field to score Jeff Smith, and posted the first of two RBI in the innings as Missouri Baptist won its second consecutive game over the Bulldogs this season. Roundtree went 2-4 on the day and was the lone Spartan to record a multi-hit day.
Austin Sweet picked-up his first win of the year as he came on in relief in the eighth inning. Dave Mullins got the start for Missouri Baptist and allowed two runs on two hits in five innings.
Cumberland countered with Jake Collier, who started the game for the Bulldogs. The senior right-handed pitcher did not allow a Spartan run to cross the plate through eight innings, but ran into trouble in the ninth. He finished with three earned runs, five strikeouts and four walks.
Missouri Baptist will still have its hands full as the team will wrap-up a three game series with the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday in a doubleheader. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. in Lebanon, Tenn.
