ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Missouri Baptist Spartans and Central Baptist Mustangs went toe-to-toe in Game Three of their weekend series on Saturday, with the Spartans gaining the series sweep with a 4-3 victory. Pitching and key defensive plays were the difference for MBU.
 
All the scoring occurred in the first five innings, then the bullpens did a stellar job for both teams. The game was chalk full of anxious moments, especially for the Spartans. The key inning for MBU defensively came in the fifth when CBC had the bases loaded and one out and only came away with a single run.
 
Spartans' starter Brady Stephan worked four plus innings giving up only a single run in the first and another in the second. After his offense staked him to a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth, Stephan gave up back-to-back singles to start the fifth. Reliever Greg Ryun was summoned from the bullpen but immediately gave up a single to tie the game at three. Pinch hitter Rueben Hernandez came to the plate with the bases loaded and no one out. He hit a screaming line drive to the left of second baseman Cesar Soto. Soto made an incredible diving catch to his left then immediately found an alert shortstop Alex Adams to double off the runner at second base for the second out. Mustangs' catcher Danilo Taborda followed with a ball blistered on a line to center that was handled on the run and inches from the grass by center fielder Blayne Yarger. Those plays on successive batters meant the Mustangs got one run in the inning instead of potentially many more. While CBC had tied the game, it would be the last run they would get.
 
MBU used the momentum from their defense to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Cole Robinson was hit by a pitch to begin the frame and advanced to second on a Yarger single. After back-to-back outs were recorded, Noah Hemphill came up with the hit of the game in singling to right center to score Robinson. The Spartans had regained the lead 4-3, which would be the last run scored by either team.
 
MBU had to work out of some jams to secure the victory. Central Baptist had the tying run in scoring position in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings but stellar relief work by Ryun and Skout Rallo shut down the threats. Ryun was credited with his first win by pitching three shutout innings with four hits, a walk and three strikeouts. Rallo pitched the eighth and ninth and earned his fourth save with no hits, a walk and two strikeouts.
 
The Spartans are 26-4 on the season and in first place in American Midwest Conference play with an 8-1 record. With 26 victories they have already eclipsed their win total from a year ago when they finished 25-23.
 
The series sweep against CBC is the second this week for the Spartans, as they beat Harris-Stowe State University in all three games played on Monday and Tuesday.
 
Next up for the Spartans, they will step out of conference competition and face Bethel University on Tuesday at Spartan Baseball Field. The weather for Tuesday looks outstanding and plenty of good seats are still available. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.