O'FALLON, Mo. – (RV) Missouri Baptist Baseball stole a 7-6 win in game one of Thursday's doubleheader but the (20) Lyon Scots (Ark.) earned the split for the day with an 11-8 victory in game two. The all-important AMC series wraps up on Friday at 10 am.
 
(RV) Missouri Baptist 7, (20) Lyon 6
 
On a day where gale force winds exceeded 30 mph, pitching and defense were not a strong suit for either team on Thursday at CarShield Field. Lyon drew first blood in the opening inning with two runs aided by a Spartan error. They padded the lead with one run in each of the second and third innings.
 
MBU finally got on the board in the third with an RBI single by Drew Brooks. They pulled within one an inning later when General McArthur ripped a double down the left field line to score two. Lyon regained part of the lead after Kylan Barnett led off with a home run in the fifth.
 
It was 5-3 Scots when Brooks drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the fifth. DeShawn Lookout then took a 1-2 fastball and laced it over the left centerfield fence to tie the game.
 
Lyon once again retook the lead in the following frame. Manny Pizarro induced a pop up to short from Kyle West to start the inning but the high winds took the ball from the infield all the way to the left field corner. It fell between DeShawn Lookout and Mason Washington and the Scots were suddenly in business. A single by the next batter scored the run to make it 6-5.
 
The Spartans needed one more rally and they gave themselves a chance after Washington drew a one-out walk. Drew Brooks was the next batter and, on a 2-2 count, the senior sent a dangerous fly ball to centerfield. Once again, the wind took over and the ball kept carrying. It carried all the way over the fence in the deepest part of the ballpark for a two-run walk off home run. Mo. Bap's first lead of the game gave them a 7-6 victory.
 
(RV) Missouri Baptist 8, (20) Lyon 11
 
Game two was another shootout due to the unpredictable winds. The Scots jumped on MBU starter Josh Ray for three runs in the top of the first. Missouri Baptist came right back with five of their own in the bottom half. After scoring two runs via an RBI groundout and a wild pitch, Michael McGhee stepped in with two on and two outs and promptly launched the first pitch he saw into the left field bleachers to give MBU a 5-3 lead.
 
After two sloppy defensive plays by Mo. Bap in the sixth, Lyon tallied three runs and regained the advantage at 8-6, forcing the Spartans to once again play catchup. They managed to do that with two outs in the bottom of the inning. A two-run homer by General McArthur evened things up one final time.
 
Ultimately, though, Missouri Baptist just couldn't keep the NAIA's 20^th ranked team off the board. The Scots managed to bring the go-ahead run across in the eighth and added two more in the ninth. The Spartans finally ran out of late inning magic and the visitors held on for a three-run victory.
 
MBU finished the day with an overall record of 14-7 and an AMC mark of 7-5. Lyon moved to 21-6/8-3 AMC. The rubber game of the series will get underway at 10 am on Friday from CarShield Field in O'Fallon.