FULTON, Mo. – MBU Baseball concluded the first AMC series of 2021 with a 2-2 record. The Spartans let a late lead slip away in game one of Monday's doubleheader but rallied back to win game two and split the four-game series with William Woods (9-5, 2-2 AMC).
GAME ONE
The Spartans struggled to cash in offensively early in game one, leaving runners on base in each of the second, third, and fourth innings. William Woods led 2-0 heading into a rollercoaster final three frames.
In the top of the fifth, with two on and two outs,
Manny Garcia delivered a game-tying double into the left field corner. The Owls immediately re-took the lead though in the bottom of the frame.
Matt Huss, on in relief of starter
Matthew Hess, put out the fire and limited the damage by inducing an inning-ending double-play ball.
The Spartans counterpunched again in the sixth, once again doing it with two outs. This time it was pinch-hit three home run by
St. Peter Brooks. It was Brooks' first hit as a Spartan and it gave Mo. Bap its first lead at 5-4.
The advantage would balloon to 8-4 in the seventh inning with the help of three errors by the Owls.
Adrian Gutierrez (sac fly) and
Noah Hemphill (double) each drove in a run in the inning and the Spartans were sitting pretty with a four-run lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.
After hitting the leadoff man in the final frame, Huss came back to get the next two WWU hitters on strikeouts. That put William Woods down to its final out. But then the train seemingly went off the tracks. Two walks and two singles led to two runs and made it an 8-6 game. Huss gave way to
Jackson Keller. Keller got Alex Owens to hit a slow chopper to short but
Manny Garcia couldn't make the barehanded play. Another run scored and now it was suddenly a one-run game.
The bases were still loaded with Jack Niggemeier, one of the Owls' hottest hitters, coming to the plate. The Spartans were on the ropes and Niggemeier delivered the knockout punch with a single up the middle. Two runs scored and William Woods walked off with a 9-8 victory.
GAME TWO
With the series finale still to be played, the Spartans had to quickly forget about the disastrous ending to game one. The response in the top of the first could not have been more positive.
After
Kyle O'Brien doubled (yet another two-out hit),
Adrian Gutierrez,
Carter Mize,
Noah Hemphill, and
Hunter Hill connected for back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs. The events of the past hour were a distant memory as the Spartans had a 5-0 lead after one inning.
There was still more runs to be scored in the second inning and, again, it was Gutierrez going deep to bring in O'Brien. The Spartan designated hitter would finish the game 3-4 later adding a double to the two home runs. By day's end Gutierrez had raised his batting average by more than .080 points.
After being held scoreless in the third inning, Mo. Bap went on to score seven runs in the next four frames and took a 14-4 lead to the bottom of the seventh. That was more than enough run support for
Josh Sieglitz, who closed out the seventh and ended the game early on the 10-run rule.
In addition to Gutierrez, other offensive stars in game two included
Noah Hemphill (2-3, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored),
Kyle O'Brien (2-4), and
St. Peter Brooks (1-3, 3 RBIs). The Spartans racked up 13 hits to score the 14 runs.
On the pitching side,
Aaron Jonas made his first career start and pitched into the fourth before turning it over to Sieglitz. Sieglitz allowed three hits and no runs in the final 3 and 1/3 to earn the win. He struck out four and didn't allow a walk either.
REACTION FROM COACH USCHOLD
"Wow! What a response! I'm extremely proud of this group. That first loss could have devastated us… they did not allow that to happen."
WHAT'S NEXT
The Spartans (9-8, 2-2 AMC) will continue AMC play on the road at Hannibal-LaGrange (6-6, 1-3 AMC) on Thursday and Friday. They return home on April 2-3 for a series against Lyon College.
