O'FALLON, Mo. – Missouri Baptist Baseball polished off a three-game AMC sweep of William Woods (7-8, 0-6 AMC) with two dominant performances on Friday afternoon. The Spartans improved to 4-2 in conference play and 6-6 overall after 5-1 and 11-3 victories at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Mo.
 
GAME ONE
The Spartans did most of their damage offensively in the third inning of Friday's opening game. After Sage Voda started the scoring with an RBI single, Adrian Gutierrez connected for a three-run homer to put the home side ahead 4-0. Gutierrez was 3-3 in game one with a double and a single in addition to his second long ball of the season.
 
Trey Steffler added some insurance with a solo home run in the fifth but otherwise the day belonged to starting pitcher Matthew Hess. The 6'7 righty from Scottsdale allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out a season-high 10 William Woods hitters. 
 
GAME TWO
The series finale finished with an even more lopsided score thanks to 13 Spartan hits. It started with a four-run first frame, highlighted by a three-run bomb off the bat of Luis Tajia.
 
After William Woods trimmed the lead to just one (4-3), the MBU offense pulled away for good in the middle innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Trey Steffler lined his second home run of the day, this one a two-run shot, off the visiting clubhouse roof in centerfield. Adrian Gutierrez drove in two more with a single in the sixth inning and Sage Voda finished off the scoring with his first career homer in the seventh.
 
Masen Palmier was solid in his third start of the season, improving his record to 2-0. The junior struck out five and allowed three earned runs on five hits in six innings. Austin Worrell set down all six batters he faced in relief before Jacob Rucker closed out the ninth.
 
Offensively, several Spartans had big days starting with third baseman Trey Steffler. The junior from Boise, Idaho extended his hitting streak to 11 games, going 4-7 in the doubleheader with four RBIs. Adrian Gutierrez and Sage Voda each finished the day 4-8 and combined for eight RBIs. Voda also scored four runs.
 
Missouri Baptist (6-6, 4-2 AMC) will now step out of AMC play to meet No. 20 Central Methodist and Olivet Nazarene in non-conference action at home next week (subject to cancellation based on weather).

*Note: for the second straight day, you can get a buy one, get one box combo deal at the Raising Cane's on Manchester Rd. in Des Peres. Anytime the Spartans score seven at home this season, you, the fan, win big the next day*