ST. LOUIS - The Missouri Baptist Spartans continued their stellar early season play by sweeping a doubleheader from Missouri Valley College on Friday afternoon at Maryville University's Weber Field. The Spartans took the first game 6-2, and the second 7-2. They are now 8-0 on the season.
GAME ONE – MBU 6, MVC 2
The Spartans were in a 1-0 deficit after the top of the first inning but responded quickly and in a big way.
Blane Besse singled to get things started and
DJ Schmidt followed with a two-run home run to right field. Two batters into the bottom of the first inning the Spartans already led 2-1. But they were far from done in the first. After the Schmidt home run,
Alex Adams singled to start another rally. After the next two batters were retired,
Noah Hemphill and
Jakob Kouneski walked to load the bases. Adams scored when
Tommy Patrick Jr. was hit by a pitch. Hemphill scored one batter later when
Cesar Soto singled. The Spartans had a 4-1 lead after the first inning.
MBU would tack on two more in the third. Hemphill walked to lead off the inning and came home in front of a Kouneski two-run home run to center. The Spartans were up 6-1 heading into the fourth.
The Vikings would plate a run via single and a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, but they couldn't get any closer as MBU won it by a final score of 6-2.
DJ Schmidt and Kouneski both homered, had two runs batted in and scored a run.
Meanwhile on the mound,
Anthony Green was a little wilder than what he has shown previously but was still efficient and effective. He picked up the win by going four innings giving up two runs on three hits with five walks and six strikeouts. He is now 2-0 on the season.
Brady Stephan and
Landon Albers followed Green to the hill and over the next three innings combined for no runs on two hits, while walking one and striking out four.
GAME TWO – MBU 7, MVC 2
The second game of the day started a lot like the first with the visitors from Missouri Valley breaking out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The big blow was a three-base throwing error by starting pitcher
Billy Heil on the leadoff hitter from MoVal. The runner would score on a single later in the inning and the Vikings had a 1-0 lead. Ironically,
Blane Besse would lead things off for the Spartans by reaching on an error on Missouri Valley right fielder then would come home on a groundout by
DJ Schmidt to tie the game at one after an inning.
MBU saved their big offensive explosion for the second inning when
Jakob Kouneski led off with a home run, his first of the game and second of the day to make it 2-1.
Noah Hemphill would follow with a single and advance to second on a
Sage McMinn walk.
Tommy Patrick Jr. and
Cesar Soto would ground into back-to-back fielder's choice with the second of those brining Hemphill in to score, making it 4-1. Besse would step to the plate and deliver a telling blow by hitting a two-run home run to right center and giving the Spartans a 5-1 edge.
That would be all the offense that Heil would need as he went the distance for his first win of the young season. He went seven strong innings surrendering just two runs on four hits while walking three and striking out four. At one point he retired eight consecutive batters and needed only 89 pitches to get the complete game victory.
For food measure, in the bottom of the fourth, the Spartans would strike again when Hemphill walked and came home on a Soto single to make it 6-1. In the fifth the Spartans would get their seventh tally on a single by
Cole Robinson and an RBI double by Kouneski.
The Vikings got a run back in the top of the sixth, but the final score was 7-2 in favor of MBU.
Kouneski was the hitting star of the game, going two for three with a run scored and two RBI.
The Spartans are now 8-0 on the season and will be back in action on Saturday with two more games against Missouri Valley, with start times at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
