COLUMBIA, Mo. – MBU Baseball (17-10, 10-4) remained one game out of first place in the AMC after splitting a Friday doubleheader against (RV) Columbia (22-5, 11-3).
GAME ONE
Entering Friday on a 12-game winning streak, it was Columbia who got off to the fast start in the series opener. But the Spartan defense didn't do any favors for starter
Masen Palmier. Four errors in the first three innings led to a deep 10-0 hole for the visitors to climb out of.
The MBU offense also had a tough go against Columbia's perennial All-American starting pitcher Chris Wall. The senior struck out 10 in his six innings. The Spartans did show signs of life in the fifth with a three-run homer by
Adrian Gutierrez and a solo shot by
Carter Mize.
Ryan Turner came on in relief of Palmier for MBU and pitched well. He allowed just one hit in three shutout innings. The early deficit was too much though and Columbia took game one 10-4.
GAME TWO
The Spartans desperately needed to rally back in game two but, early on, the Columbia offense continued to slug. They connected for five runs on five hits in the first inning against
Billy Heil.
After the rocky first inning, Heil would settle in. He pitched into the sixth inning, allowing three hits and one run after the opening frame.
The MBU bats chipped away at the deficit, starting with a three-run third inning. Base hits from Gutierrez and
Hunter Hill cut the Cougar lead to 5-4.
It was 6-4 in the eighth when the Spartans' big inning finally arrived. Trey Steffler was hit by a pitch and
Manny Garcia singled to get it started.
Kyle O'Brien followed with an opposite field hit to bring both Steffler and Garcia across (with help from a CC error).
They would add three more in the inning after two more singles, two more Columbia errors, a walk, and another hit by pitch. When the dust settled, the Spartans sent 11 men to the plate adding up to five runs and a 9-6 lead.
Josh Sieglitz came on in relief of Heil in the sixth and put forth 3.2 dominant innings to silence the hot CC offense. The senior faced 12 batters and struck out 11 of them. Sieglitz was credited with the victory to improve to 5-0.
The Spartans finished with 16 hits, five of which came from senior
Kyle O'Brien (5-6).
Hunter Hill was 2-5 with three RBIs and
Noah Hemphill was 2-4 after going 3-3 in game one. Trey Steffler doubled in his first at bat, walked in his next three ABs, and was hit by a pitch in his final trip to the plate. He scored three runs in his five opportunities on the base paths.
WHAT'S NEXT
With a dodgy forecast on tap for Saturday, the Spartans and Cougars will opt to resume the four-game series on Monday in Columbia. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
