O'FALLON, Mo. – The Spartans used the power of the long ball to get the best of Midland University twice on Saturday. The Spartans had two home runs in the first game, a 9-5 victory, and got three more in the second game in downing the Warriors 10-6.
 
GAME ONE – MBU 9, MIDLAND 5
Midland got on the board first with a Nathaniel Reyes solo homer to lead off the game, but it would be the only lead for the Warriors. The Spartans scored two in the bottom of the first when Blaine Besse led off with a walk followed by a DJ Schmidt double. After an Alex Adams strikeout, Midland gave Cole Robinson an intentional pass to load the bases. Blayne Yarger was clipped by a pitch bringing in Besse, then Jakob Kouneski plated Schmidt with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1 MBU after one.
 
The Spartans would tack on three more in the second when Adams hit a three-run home run into the left field seats scoring Besse and Schmidt with their second runs in as many innings. Robinson would follow Adams by hitting a laser into the left field seats. The back-to-back bombs gave MBU a comfortable 6-1 lead after two innings.
 
The next inning Besse would come up again and double home both Tommy Patrick Jr. and Cesar Soto who were aboard via an error and walk. The Besse double made it 8-1 MBU at the end of three innings.
 
The Warriors got four runs back in the fourth by way of a bases-loaded hit by pitch and Reyes hitting a three run homer, his second blast of the game.
 
Adams would add the final run of the game in the sixth when he singled through the left side of the infield, once again scoring Besse.
 
Anthony Green got the start for MoBap and though he gave up five runs on six hits, he struck out 11 and walked three. Skout Rallo was called upon to finish out the game by going one inning, surrendering a walk and striking out two. With the win, Green improved to 4-0 but saw his ERA rise to 4.29.
 
Besse finished the game two for two with two RBIs and three runs scored. Adams was two for three with four RBIs. The Spartans scored their nine runs on just seven hits with all of them coming from the top four batters in the lineup.
 
GAME TWO – MBU 10, MIDLAND 6
MBU got off to a fast start in the second game but the Warriors made them work for the victory down the stretch. Blane Besse continued his sterling day when he got the offense rolling with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. Besse advanced to third on a DJ Schmidt single and came home to score when Alex Adams grounded into a double-play, which erased Schmidt at second base. Not to be deterred, Cole Robinson hit his second homer of the day and the first in this game to put the Spartans up 2-0 after the first inning.
 
Meanwhile on the mound, starter Micah Diamond was cruising through the first couple of innings before running into trouble in the third. A lead-off double began the inning but then Diamond struck out the next batter. Then with one out the flood gates seemingly opened. A triple followed by an error preceded back-to-back-to-back singles allowing the Warriors to push five runs across the plate to gain a 5-2 lead.
 
It would take until the bottom of the fourth for the Spartans to answer back, and the answer largely came from a familiar source. Robinson walked and advanced to second on a Blayne Yarger single. Noah Hemphill got in on the fun with a single to left to bring home Robinson to get the Spartans back within two. After Sage McMinn flew out to right, Arturo Brito gave a plate appearance that should not be overlooked and was pivotal in the game. Down 0-2 in the count, he worked his way back to earn a two-out walk to load the bases for Besse. It didn't take long for him to unload them. Besse launched a no-doubter grand slam to left and the Spartans regained the lead for good at 7-5.
 
A leadoff home run by the Warriors in the top of the sixth made the game a tight one at 7-6. That was the final batter of the game for Diamond who went five plus innings. Brady Stephan came on in relief and promptly found his way into trouble, then just as quickly got himself out of it. A walk and hit batsman put the tying run on second base with no one out. Stephan struck out the next batter for the first out. A single loaded the bases with one out and it appeared the Spartan lead was short-lived. But the righthander from O'Fallon, Mo. dug deep to strike out back-to-back batters to end the threat and preserve the lead.
 
The Spartan offense wasn't done yet though. The Spartans had first and third with one out when Brito hit a sacrifice fly to score pinch-runner Kevin Watkins to add an insurance tally and put MBU back up by two. Then, that man showed up again. Besse hit his second home run of the game, this one a two-run shot, to give the Spartans their final runs, making it 10-6.
 
Stephan got two more strikeouts in the top of the seventh to earn his first save of the season and preserve the victory for Diamond, who is now 4-0. Diamond gave up six runs while walking no one and striking out eight.
 
The hitting star was who else but Blane Besse, who went three for three in the second game with six RBIs.
 
On the afternoon, Besse reached base in all eight plate appearances with two home runs, a double, two singles, and three walks, with eight RBIs and six runs scored. He is now second on the team in batting average (.378), second in home runs (four) and third in runs batted in (15).
 
The Spartans will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to McKenzie, Tenn. to take on Bethel University. The Spartans beat the Wildcats 20-4 when they played February 4 in Millington, Tenn. First pitch on Tuesday is Noon.