FAYETTE, Mo. – For the second day in a row, the Missouri Baptist Spartans split a pair of games on the baseball diamond, this time with the University of Jamestown. MBU won the first game 11-6 and dropped the second 6-5 in 11 innings.
 
GAME ONE – MBU 11, JAMESTOWN 6
The Spartans banged out 16 hits in the first game of the doubleheader in opening a nine-run lead in the first four innings, then held on for the victory. Micah Diamond went six innings for the victory, giving up only three earned runs while striking out seven and walking one. The senior from St. Joseph, Mo. is now 3-0 on the season. The hitting star in the game was first basemen Cole Robinson, who went three for four with four RBIs. Four other Spartans had two hits in the game.
 
The Spartans got on the board early and often. After back-to-back singles and a walk to start the game, Robinson singled home Blane Besse for the first tally. Two batters later with the bases still loaded, catcher Jakob Kouneski was hit by a pitch to force home DJ Schmidt to make it 2-0 MBU at the end of the first.
 
The Jimmies even it up in the top of the second with a two-run home run, but the Spartans had an answer in the bottom of the inning by scoring three more of their own. The frame started innocently enough when Tommy Patrick Jr. singled to center but was stuck at first after a pop out and a lineout.  DJ Schmidt was hit by a pitch to put two on with two out for Alex Adams. Adams singled to center scoring Patrick Jr and moving Schmidt to third. Robinson followed with a 2-RBI double, scoring Schmidt and Adams. Robinsons third RBI in the first two innings made it a 5-2 lead for the Spartans.
 
MBU was just getting started as they had their biggest inning in the third. Once again, they loaded the bases to start the inning via singles by Kouneski and Noah Hemphill, followed by yet another hit-by-pitch, this one to Patrick Jr. Arturo Brito then reached on a error to bring home Kouneski, making it 6-2. Besse hit a sacrifice fly bring home Hemphill with the seventh run before Adams singled to force home Patrick Jr. Robinson singled home Brito to put the Spartans up by six. Blayne Yarger got in on the fun by doubling to center to score Adams. In all MBU had five runs cross the plate in the third, making it 10-2.
 
Back-to-back singles to start the fourth, followed by a Brito sacrifice fly gave the Spartans their final run of the game making it 11-2.
 
The Jimmies added three unearned runs in the top of the fifth to get back to 11-5, assisted by a couple of Spartans errors. Diamond worked out of that trouble and then threw a scoreless sixth before giving way to Landon Albers to start the seventh. Albers gave up a walk and an RBI double but otherwise was able to shut down the Jimmies offense and preserve the 11-6 Spartans win.
 
Besse, Adams, Kouneski, Hemphill, and Patrick Jr. all had two hits in the victory.
 
GAME TWO – JAMESTOWN 6, MBU 5 (11 Innings)
The Jimmies got a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game, then went on the win the game in the 11^th inning to gain a split with the Spartans by a score of 6-5. This was a tight game throughout with neither team leading by more than two runs at any point.
 
As has been the case for most games this season, the Spartans got on the board first. DJ Schmidt doubled with one out in the first and was brought home by an Alex Adams single, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead after half an inning. But the Jimmies were ready to join the battle in this one, plating three of their own in the bottom of the first.
 
The Spartans inched closer in the second when Tommy Patrick Jr. reached on an error and scored on a Blaine Besse single to make it 3-2 Jamestown.
 
Jamestown got that run right back via a single, a sacrifice bunt and another single in the bottom of the second.
 
Things would stay that way until the top of the fourth when Noah Hemphill singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an error off the bat of DJ Schmidt. The Spartans inched back with a run at 4-3.
 
The Spartans took the lead in the top of the fifth when the first four batters reached. Blane Besse and DJ Schmidt singled, followed by walks to Alex Adams and Cole Robinson. The second of the walks brought home Schmidt to tie the game at four. A Blayne Yarger sacrifice fly followed, scoring Schmidt, and the Spartans had regained the lead 5-4. They reloaded the bases one out later but were unable to put any additional runs on board.
 
MBU would hold that lead until the Jimmies batted in the last of the seventh. The leadoff hitter would greet Spartans hurler Brady Stephens in his third inning of work by hitting a home run over the left field wall to even the game 5-5. It was the only blemish against Stephens in six innings of work, where he surrendered just four hits while striking out 11.
 
The Spartans would threaten in the top of the 10^th inning when they had runners on second and third with one out, but a pop out to the shortstop and a strike out ended the threat. MBU would load the bases in the 11^th as well but couldn't chase a run home.
 
Jamestown plated the winning run in the 11^th via a pair of balks committed by hurler Evan Howse. A leadoff walk was followed by a balk. The Spartans put the next runner on via an intentional pass. After pop out, both runners advanced on the second balk of the inning. A single through the right side would score the winning run for the Jimmies, giving them a 6-5 victory and a split in the two games.
 
The Spartans next game will be Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. when they start play in the Clay Pfeiffer Memorial Tournament at MBU. Twenty-second ranked University of Northwestern Ohio and Midland University will also be taking part in this years tournament.