ST. LOUIS – [GAME 1 BOX] [GAME 2 BOX] Sometimes in baseball, it takes patience to steal a win. Missouri Baptist had plenty of patience on Friday in a critical American Midwest Conference doubleheader against the Central Baptist (Ark.) Mustangs. The Spartans trailed at the beginning of both games on Friday, but due to two separate comebacks, took both games 10-4 and 11-7.

Missouri Baptist (28-6, 13-1 AMC) did it their way on Friday as the team trusted in its process and found wins at the end of the each game. After the wins, the Spartans extended their winning streak to 17 games.

Central Baptist looked good early in both contests and scored first on both. In game one slugger Jalin Lawson started things for the Mustangs. The second baseman singled and scored on a double by catcher Austin Kuchinski to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The Spartans put together solid at-bats, but the defense allowed the deficit to grow. Central Baptist posted three unearned runs on Missouri Baptist hurler Donnie Lovelady, thanks to two errors, and extended the lead 4-0.

Missouri Baptist, as it has done time and time again at Spartan Baseball Field, continued to put together quality at-bats until it paid-off in the fourth inning. Austin Rieman singled to lead-off the inning and came around to score on a big base knock from John Hagan to cut the deficit to 4-1.

With two on and one out, Josh Miguel came up and put together the game's most important at-bat. The junior second baseman drilled a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left field to tie the game at four. After the big fly, the Spartans opened the floodgates on the offensive end. By the game's conclusion, Missouri Baptist had posted 10 unanswered runs to grab the first win of the day.

Miguel led the team in the first game with a two-for-three day at the plate and two RBI. Plant and Hagan both went 2-4 with two RBI while Tim Hergert and Hector Candelaria went 2-4 with one RBI apiece.

Donnie Lovelady took sole possession of the team lead in wins with seven in his start. The junior tossed five innings and allowed four runs, one earned, on four hits. He is now 7-1 on the year with a 2.13 ERA.

Game two was equally wild, but the excitement came late.

Missouri Baptist allowed one run in the third inning, but came right back in the bottom-half. Tyler Greminger, who received the start in left field, singled to right to lead-off the bottom half. After a Miguel single to follow, he stole third to put himself 90 feet away from tying the game.

Culver Plant came to the plate with no outs and reached on a fielder's choice, which scored Greminger, and tied the game at one. The Spartans tacked two on before the third out was recorded in the third and Missouri Baptist led 3-1.

The Spartans made it 4-1 in the fifth, but Central Baptist took control over the course of the next two innings. After an error allowed one batter to reach, the Mustang's Kuchinski homered to cut the deficit to one. Nash Nichols followed with a double, and scored just two batters later to tie the game at four.

The Mustangs broke the game open in the seventh thanks to the key slugger in its lineup, Jalin Lawson. The second-baseman sent a three-run homerun over the fence in left-center field to give the Mustangs a 7-4 lead.

What happened next will be one of those stories that will be talked about for the remainder of the year.

Down 7-4, in the bottom of the eighth, the comeback began…

Consecutive walks were issued to Plant and Poupore as Monterio May was pulled in favor of sophomore Dylan Crossley. The underclassmen struggled against the experienced Spartan squad as the team took patient at-bats on the way to their 17^th consecutive win.

Angel Cruz, the first batter with the new hurler, singled to left field, which put the first run across, and made it a 7-5 game. As the Spartans continued to patiently wait for their pitch, the momentum drastically shifted.

Rieman put down a sacrifice bunt, but beat the throw, and loaded the bases for John Hagan. The first baseman, who entered the at-bat after striking out three times, delivered when it mattered the most. Hagan took a 1-2 pitch to left field and tied the game in the clutch.

With the game tied at seven Austyn Nagamine stepped to the plate and on the same play, cleared the bases and scored thanks to two errors on the Mustangs. The Spartan catcher reached first on an error and made it all the way to second. As he rounded second, an errant throw from first allowed him to cross the plate and made it 10-7.

Missouri Baptist plated one more as they finished strong in the 11-7 win.

Jared Crescentini received the no-decision, exiting with a tie ballgame, as Jake Triulzi picked-up the win. It was his first victory of the year.

With the win, the Spartans ensured the series win over the Mustangs, with one more on the docket for Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at Spartan Baseball Field.