Box Score ST. LOUIS – [GAME 1 BOX] [GAME 2 BOX] The bats did not quiet on Saturday in Walnut Ridge. Missouri Baptist set a new Spartan record with a 15-run inning which put the game away in a 19-0 rout of Williams Baptist (Ark.) on Saturday.
Missouri Baptist (10-5, 3-0 AMC) brought the brooms to Arkansas, but not without struggling to finish a game suspended on Friday (due to darkness) with a three-run lead in the eighth. The Spartans led 6-3 heading into the top of the eighth and posted another insurance run in the inning before a disastrous bottom of the ninth sent the game to extras.
Williams Baptist took advantage of several Spartan miscues and dropped a four-spot on the board to extend the game. Two wild pitches, two doubles, two singles and an error all led to four runs, three of which were earned off Nick Vichio, the Missouri Baptist closer. The junior from Lombard, Ill., had his lone setback of the season after having been the rock at the end of the bullpen.
Missouri Baptist broke through once again in the 12th inning, however, and snagged the win. After Culver Plant reached on an error with one out, center fielder Drew Kitson doubled to put the lead run at third with just one out. A throwing error on the same play allowed Plant to cross the plate and Kitson to third with just one out. A wild pitch by Spencer Thielemier scored Kitson and with two away, Missouri Baptist led 9-7.
Angel Cruz stepped to the plate and on an 0-1 count, put the final run on the board with one swing. Cruz tagged the ball over the right field wall to make it a 10-7 game. Nick Hynes finished his third inning of work by retiring the side in order to give the Spartans their second win of the season.
In the series finale, it took Missouri Baptist just one inning to put the game away. The Spartans posted 15 runs in the third inning and ended the game before it got started. Not since Lubbock Christian's (Texas) 18-run outburst in the eighth inning of their NAIA National Championship Opening Round game against William Jewell (Mo.) in 2009 has a number like that been posted in one single inning.
Missouri Baptist sent 18 players to the plate in the inning as the team recorded three singles, two, three-run home runs and a grand slam. Williams Baptist committed six errors in the inning, walked five batters and recorded two wild pitches.
That third inning saw three balls leave the yard. Justin Ortiz and Tommy Nawa both went yard and both were three-run shots. Then there was John Hagan. The junior from Orlando, Fla., already putting together a career year, hit his fifth home run of the season, a grand slam, over the wall in left on a 2-2 pitch. Hagan is now tied for 10th in the NAIA in home runs and is hitting .45 home runs per game.
The Spartans posted four more in the fourth on the way to an impressive win and a series sweep in the opening weekend of American Midwest Conference play.
In a start that will be overlooked after the run production, Pat Boyle quietly had his best and most dominant outing of the season. The senior from Farmersville, Ohio allowed just four hits and struck-out a career-high 10 batters in five innings of work.
"15 runs in one inning… I have never seen that before," said Eddie Uschold who is in his 18th season as the head coach at Missouri Baptist. Saturday's win was his 686th in his career and his 670th as the Missouri Baptist skipper.
With the wins, the Spartans will head home at the top of the American Midwest Conference standings along with Park (Mo.) and Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) who also swept their series openers over the weekend.
Missouri Baptist will get back to work next weekend when they welcome the Central Baptist (Ark.) Mustangs to Spartan Baseball Field. Friday will feature a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m., and the series will conclude with a 12:00 p.m. first pitch on Saturday.
Note: This story was changed to reflect a late statistical error showing Kyle Keck hitting a three-run home run in the third inning of game two. Keck came out of the game as the courtesy runner and Tommy Nawa re-entered for the at-bat.
