O'FALLON, MO. – (RV) MBU Baseball opened conference play on Thursday against (2) Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) but dropped a pair of one-run games at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Mo. The series was originally scheduled to be played in Henderson, Tenn. but had to be relocated locally due to an ominous weekend forecast in Tennessee.
 
In a rematch of last season's AMC Tournament Finals, the Spartans and Lions traded haymakers in the early going on Thursday. With the score tied at one in the second inning, Mo. Bap designated hitter Sid Kumar took the first pitch and sent it 400 feet over the left centerfield wall. Kumar's third home run of the year made it 2-1.
 
Drew Brooks added to the advantage with a solo shot in the third but Freed-Hardeman recouped the run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame. The Lions then took their first lead one inning later. Shortstop Bryce Lester launched a three-run homer to make it 5-3.
 
The Lions' lead didn't last long, however, because Drew Brooks was at it again in the fifth. His second homer of the game landed in an almost identical spot as his first and tied the game at five.
 
Spartan starter Josh Ray pitched around trouble all day but finally ran out of gas in the sixth. FHU's Dominic Pisano led off with a line drive home run to right to end Ray's day. In the seventh and final inning, MBU had a runner in scoring position but DeShawn Lookout's deep drive to left field ran out of steam on the track. Freed-Hardeman took the opener by a score of 6-5.
 
Game two followed a different path with less scoring and more dynamic pitching. Mo. Bap redshirt freshman Austin Worrell and Lions' freshman Alex Huey went toe to toe on the mound.
 
FHU drew first blood with a two-RBI single in the second. They added a third run in the fourth after an MBU error but Worrell limited the damage from there. He would go on to finish six innings, allowing just the two earned runs on seven hits.
 
On the other side, Huey had the Spartan hitters tied up in knots. MBU managed just three hits and no runs through the first five innings. Mason Washington finally found success for the visiting team in the sixth. The senior's second home run of the season brought DeShawn Lookout around and cut the deficit to 3-2.
But that would be as close as Missouri Baptist could get. Despite several hard hit balls in the final three frames, only one eluded the infield. Huey finished off the complete game and a one-run victory for Freed-Hardeman.
 
MBU fell to 6-4 overall (0-2 AMC) while the Lions improved to 9-4 overall (2-0 AMC). The AMC's top two teams will close out the series on Friday. First pitch in O'Fallon is once again scheduled for noon.