ST. LOUIS – After coming up a run short in its American Midwest Conference opener Thursday, the Missouri Baptist University baseball team rebounded nicely Monday with back-to-back wins over William Woods.
 
The Spartans exploded for 13 runs in Game Two and blanked the Owls in Game Three for their first AMC series win of the season. This year, the AMC returns to a three-game series after switching to four last year to address schedule difficulties out of conference. With the win, MBU improved to 9-11 overall and 2-1 in the AMC.
 
Because of rain on Monday and Tuesday, the Spartans canceled their doubleheader with former AMC member and No. 22-ranked Freed-Hardeman University. If all goes as planned, the Spartans will return to the field on Friday for a key series at (RV) Lyon College.
 
Game 1 – William Woods 7, Missouri Baptist 6 (9 Inn.)
In the top of the first, Owls' second baseman Marcus Gonzalez belted a triple to right center and shortly after cashed in on a wild pitch to strike first in the series opener. While the Spartans tied the game for a moment in the third inning, William Woods never relinquished the lead.
 
WWU starting pitcher Owen Tripp didn't allow a Spartan hit until the fourth inning on a Jordan Brandenburg two-out, solo home run. The hits were hard to come by for MoBap in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and even when the Spartans were on base, they couldn't capitalize leaving six total stranded.
 
Down by five (7-2), the bottom half of eighth provide the Spartans with a glimmer of hope. With two outs, PJ Brooks plated a 2-RBI double to bring home Carter Mize and Tommy Patrick Jr. and make it a 7-4 ballgame. In the ninth, Ashanti Ross had a leadoff single followed by a two-run HR by Blane Besse and a Cesar Soto single up the middle. With no outs and the tying run on base, the Spartans came up empty with a strikeout and a double play ball to short.
 
Game 2 – Missouri Baptist 13, William Woods 4 (7 Inn.)
Due to the rain on Friday, the doubleheader originally scheduled for Saturday, was moved to Monday. With the bats coming alive too late for MBU in Game One of the series, the Spartans picked up where they left off on Thursday with a Carter Mize 3-run blast to open the scoring in the first. Mize's home run was his third in three games and team-leading seventh of the season.
 
With a strong outing from RHP Micah Diamond, the run support came through in a big way in the third. Alex Adams delivered a 2-RBI single to start, followed by Hutch Kettler's 3-RBI double to make it an 8-0 game. The Spartans did some damage with two outs, plating three more runs for the commanding 11-0 lead.
 
MBU scored two more in the fourth to increase the margin to 13. William Woods finally broke up Diamond's shutout attempt with an Isaiah Gibbs two-out, 2-RBI double in the top of the fifth. The Owls scored two in the sixth with Austin Szverra on the mound, but the deficit was insurmountable.
 
All nine MBU batters recorded at least one hit in the game. Cesar Soto and Hutch Kettler led the way with three hits apiece while Carter Mize and Jordan Brandenburg each had two hits to their names.
 
Game 3 – Missouri Baptist 5, William Woods 0 (9 Inn.)
While the Spartan offense stole the limelight in Game Two of the series, pitching reigned supreme in the rubber match. RHP Masen Palmier did the heavy lifting for the Spartans with a final stat line of 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, and 96 pitches. Ryan Brown closed out the ninth and combined with Palmier for MBU's second shutout win of the season.
 
In the low-scoring affair, the Spartans scored all that they needed in the fifth including a single (Soto), double (Brandenburg) and SAC fly (Mize)