ST. LOUIS – In Friday afternoon's American Midwest Conference (AMC) Softball Games of the Week, Missouri Baptist University was just a play or two away from grabbing key wins against league leader Central Baptist College. Instead, MBU was on the wrong end of the win-loss column, dropping Game One by a score of 3-1 and Game Two, 4-3.
 
Avoiding its first AMC loss, Central Baptist improved to 17-10 on the year and 10-0 in league play. Despite carrying a lead at one point in both ends of the doubleheader, Missouri Baptist moved to 2-2 in conference and 8-11 overall.
 
The Spartans will finish off the weekend with another crucial conference series against 18^th-ranked Lyon College on Saturday at 12 and 2 p.m. The Scots (22-7, 9-3 AMC) are coming off of a loss to unranked Lindenwood-Belleville on Friday.
 
In Game 1, both team's starting pitchers were wheeling and dealing from the circle. Delissa Dennison retired the first four Mustang batters of the afternoon and had three strikeouts in the first two innings.
 
Scoreless through two, Missouri Baptist and Central Baptist both had their opportunities in the third frame. The Mustangs led off with a double from Bri Nunn and advanced to third on a sac bunt, but Dennison got out of the inning unscathed following a line out to center. For the Spartans, Jordan Corby nearly knocked one out of the park with two outs a no one on, but settled for a triple off the left field wall. Unfortunately, she was left stranded.
 
Dennison once again worked out of a jam in the top of the fourth with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd. Missouri Baptist finally opened up the scoring with a leadoff solo homer by Caitlin McNiff, her first of the year. With the 1-0 lead, the Spartans looked rattle CBC pitcher Kym House and did just that with a Meagan Elder double immediately following the McNiff home run. Elder continues to be a force at the plate for the Spartans as the senior catcher is now hitting .472 and went a perfect 3-for-3 in the series opener.
 
Central Baptist retired the next three batters and dodged a bullet, trailing by just one. The visitors from Conway, Ark. made their move in the next half inning. The Mustangs answered with some power hitting of their own, leading off the inning with three consecutive hits in the form of a triple and double to right and a single to shallow left. CBC took the lead away from the Spartans and scored three runs on four hits.  
 
Defensively, Missouri Baptist shut the Mustangs down following the three-run fifth inning. The Spartans' best chance of staging the upset came in the bottom of the 7^th. Sydney Engelhart recorded a leadoff double to deep right-center and Amber Mobbs joined her on the bases with a single. With gamewinning run at the plate, the Spartans proceeded to pop out and strike out looking to end the game.
 
Delissa Dennison tossed 7.0 innings allowing 6 hits, 3 earned runs and 4 walks. The junior fanned eight batters along the way.
 
In Game Two, the Mustangs got their bats going early and took the 1-0 lead in the first inning after an untimely error with two outs. MBU avoided a second run being scored with an impressive throw from left fielder Amber Mobbs to get CBC's Katie Goike out at the plate.
 
Central Baptist increased the margin to two in the top of the 3^rd on a sac fly opportunity.
 
Held without a hit for four innings, the Spartans broke through in the fifth and took their first lead of the game at 3-2. Several Spartans got in on the action including hits from Amber Mobbs, Reily Kassay (bunt single), Jordan Corby and Meagan Elder, while Rachel Galbraith and Caitlin McNiff helped the cause with a walk and sac fly, respectively.
 
Three outs were all that stood between Missouri Baptist and a big win in conference over CBC. With back-to-back ground outs to pitcher Ally Dunaway, the Spartans appeared to be in great position to lock it up. Unfortunately, the Mustangs got to play the spoiler role. CBC got two players on base, and with one swing of the bat, a triple by Rachael Jones quickly turned the tide in favor of the Mustangs with a 4-3 advantage.
 
In desperation mode, MBU centerfielder Rachel Galbraith extended her team-best hitting streak to six games. With the hitting streak in jeopardy at 0-for-1 and a walk, Galbraith delivered a leadoff double to deep right-center in the bottom of the 7^th to put the Spartans in scoring position. With no outs and the game-tying run on second, the worst possible scenario unfolded. On a hit-and-run attempt, Jordan Corby lined it straight to CBC third baseman Kaylee St. John's glove, who completed the fluke double play by tagging out Galbraith. The Spartans' comeback attempt came up short as Madalyn Bone flied out to right to end the game.