WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – MBU Baseball (21-12, 14-6 AMC) defeated Williams Baptist 13-1 in game one of Saturday's doubleheader before dropping the series finale 5-4. Columbia (26-8, 15-5 AMC) split its doubleheader with Hannibal on Saturday as well, so the Spartans remain one game out of first in the AMC.
 
GAME ONE
The Spartans fell behind 1-0 early in the first game of the day but quickly responded to tie it in the second inning. Noah Hemphill extended his reached-base streak to 18 games with a one-out double and Hunter Hill followed with a base hit to left to drive him in. Adrian Gutierrez delivered an RBI single in the fourth to add another run.
 
It was still 3-1 heading to the fifth when the MBU offense exploded. With one out and the bases loaded, Tommy Patrick Jr. connected on an 0-1 pitch. A grand slam from the sophomore made it 7-1 Spartans. It was Patrick's fourth home run of the week and 10^th RBI.
 
The Spartans weren't finished yet in the fifth. Both Kyle O'Brien and Noah Hemphill went deep for two-run shots. Mo. Bap sent 14 hitters to the plate in the frame, racking up 10 runs in route to a 13-1 lead.
 
On the mound for MBU, it was smooth sailing most of the day for Matthew Hess. After conceding a run in the opening inning, Hess didn't allow a hit in the next six. He finished off the complete game victory with nine strikeouts and two walks. Hess improved to 5-0 on the season.
 
GAME TWO
The Spartans had a 3-0 lead in the series finale before Williams Baptist rallied late to avoid the four-game sweep. In the first inning, it was a double by Manny Garcia that drove in Treyton Steffler. In the third, Kyle O'Brien scored Steffler from third with a ground out, and finally in the fifth, O'Brien doubled into the left field corner to score Garcia.
 
Williams Baptist tied the game at four in the seventh and eventually led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off homer by senior Jacob Brown.
 
Tommy Patrick Jr. led the offense again in the night cap, finishing 3-4 with a double. The sophomore was 10-19 in the Spartans' six games this week, raising his average from .293 to .367. Steffler, Noah Hemphill, and Hunter Hill also had multi-hit games in the finale.
 
Aaron Jonas made the start in game two for Missouri Baptist and pitched well for six innings. He allowed two runs on four hits. Josh Sieglitz came on in relief for the second straight day and took the loss with two innings of work. The senior is now 5-1.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Spartans will step out of AMC play for a day to take on College of the Ozarks on Tuesday. The AMC schedule will resume next Friday and Saturday at home against Central Baptist.