HATTIESBURG, MISS. – MBU Baseball avoided a four-game sweep on Monday afternoon with a 16-5 rout of William Carey in the second game of a doubleheader. After dropping both games on Saturday, the Spartans let a late lead slip away in the opener on Monday and fell 6-5 in extra innings.
 
GAME ONE
The Spartans jumped out to a 4-1 lead after three innings. In the second, a one-out double by Sage Voda kick started the offense. After Trent Shelby walked, Nick Politte ripped a line drive up the middle off the glove of pitcher Jorge Ramos. That loaded the bases and a passed ball with Luis Tajia at the plate tied the game. MBU would add two more via an error and a sacrifice fly off the bat of DJ Schmidt.
 
In the third inning, the Spartans got more help from the William Carey defense. Two singles and an error put two runners in scoring position. Voda then brought Steffler home on another sacrifice fly. Voda and Steffler would combine once more in the fifth when the former produced an RBI double to deep left to score the latter.
 
Everything seemed to be going to plan as the Spartans led 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Starter Masen Palmier was dominant for five innings. The junior allowed just three hits and one unearned run. He also struck out six of the 18 batters he faced.
 
But Palmier's day was over after five and the bullpen and defense couldn't reward their starter with a deserved win. Tyler Baca came on in relief and retired the first two hitters he saw before a double, a single, and three-run home run cut the MBU lead to just one.
 
Closer Manny Pizarro entered to try and seal the win in the seventh but again, the defense faltered in a big moment. An error to lead off the inning gave the Crusaders life. A sacrifice bunt and a single tied the game at five and sent it to extra innings.
 
The momentum had turned fully in the direction of the home side at that point. After a scoreless eighth, William Carey won it with a walk off single in the ninth. After committing five combined errors in Saturday's doubleheader, the Spartans tallied five more misplays in the just the first game on Monday.
 
GAME TWO
The defense did not improve in the second game of the day but, thankfully for MBU, the offense picked up the extra slack. A five-run first and two-run second gave the Spartans an early 7-2 lead.
 
An RBI single by Carter Mize and a three-run homer by Adrian Gutierrez did most of the damage in the first. Hunter Hill followed suit with his first home run of the season in the second, a two-run shot that scored Donavon Murray. The Spartans knocked starter Taylor Gatwood out of the game after just an inning and a third.
 
Making his MBU debut on the mound, starter Matthew Hess was in control for 4+ frames. The 6-7, 235 lb. junior from Scottsdale conceded five hits and one earned run while striking out seven.
 
It was still a five-run game (8-3) entering the seventh when the Spartan offense blew it open. 13 hitters came to the plate in an eight-run merry go-round. The highlights included RBI doubles by Gutierrez and Mize and a two-run single by Ashanti Ross II. Hunter Hill and Trey Steffler drove in runs with base hits as well.
 
Two runs in the seventh wasn't nearly enough for William Carey and the Spartans cruised home to their first win of 2020. Hess earned the win. Jackson Keller, Michael Nilges, and Francisco Urena combined for the final 2.2 frames.
 
Offensively, Gutierrez led the way in the nightcap finishing 3-5 with four RBIs. Ross, Hill, Mize and Voda each had multi-hit games as well. As a team, Mo. Bap used 14 hits to amass their 16 runs. The bevy of runs made it possible to overcome the Spartans' second consecutive five-error game.
 
Missouri Baptist now sits at 1-3 but it won't get any easier on Friday in Montgomery, Ala. The Spartans will meet No. 6 Faulkner (Ala.) for a three-game series. They'll also play Shawnee State (Ohio) in a one-game neutral site affair on Saturday. First pitch of the weekend on Friday is scheduled for 4 pm.