ST. LOUIS—MBU Baseball will enter the AMC postseason tournament as the No. 2 seed after splitting a doubleheader with Harris-Stowe on Saturday afternoon. The Hornets (12-21, 8-14 AMC) took the first game 4-1 before the Spartans (28-15, 20-8 AMC) earned a 7-inning 13-3 victory in the series finale. Between games, this year's eight-man senior class was celebrated.
GAME ONE
Mo. Bap drew first blood in the opener. A
Noah Hemphill base hit up the middle scored
Treyton Steffler to make it 1-0. But after a three-hit opening inning, that would be the extent of the Spartans' offense in the first game of the day. Harris-Stowe starter Thomas Pinet locked it down and conceded just three more hits in the next four innings.
The Hornets tied the game in the third inning and took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. They added insurance with two more in the top of the seventh.
Matthew Hess started for Missouri Baptist and took his first loss of the season, despite pitching well for five innings.
GAME TWO
Harris-Stowe started game two with a run in the first but this lead was short-lived. It was Hemphill again delivering a single to score Steffler to tie it at one in the bottom of the inning. The difference this time around though was that the Spartans still had plenty of offensive firepower in store.
The first four that came to the plate in the third inning reached base. RBI singles from
Adrian Gutierrez,
Tommy Patrick Jr., and
Carter Mize all contributed to a five-run frame and a 6-1 Mo. Bap lead.
Harris-Stowe chipped away with two in the top of the fourth but the Spartans delivered a dagger in the home half.
Noah Hemphill continued to rake, coming through in this situation with the bases loaded. The sophomore's standup triple cleared the bases and gave his team its largest lead at 9-3.
The Spartans would add on with two in the fifth and three more in the sixth. The difference was 11 (15-4) heading to the top of the seventh. Harris-Stowe needed two runs to avoid the run-rule for the second straight day. They managed one across before
Jackson Keller and
Michael Nilges combined to shut it down and secure a 15-5 victory.
Noah Hemphill led the offense in the series finale going 2-3. Hemphill was 4-6 in the two games combined with five RBIs.
Kyle O'Brien also had another multi-hit game in the night cap and finished the four-game series 11-18 with eight runs scored. Six different Spartans had two or more hits in the final regular season game.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Spartans will receive a bye through day one of the AMC Tournament, which begins on Tuesday. The opponent on Wednesday will be one of William Woods, Harris-Stowe, or Williams Baptist. First pitch is tentatively set for 1 pm at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Mo. For the full AMC Tournament schedule visit
https://amcsportsonline.com/tournaments/?id=15.
