FULTON, Mo. – In the battle for mid-season supremacy in the American Midwest Conference, the Missouri Baptist Spartans made a resounding statement. Excellent pitching and a barrage of hitting pushed MBU to a lopsided 16-2 victory over William Woods University and thrust them into sole possession of the conference lead.
 
In what was billed as a clash of the top teams in the conference as well as a matchup of two of the AMC's top starters, MBU starter Anthony Green was masterful in pitching his team to victory. The Saint Louis native threw 112 pitches in eight innings, giving up only one run on four hits, with three walks and seven strikeouts. On the other hand, WWU starter Ryan Long, who entered the game with a 4-1 record and a 1.09 ERA, struggled with command and fell prey to some hot MBU hitting. Long lasted only four innings, gave up six runs on six hits with five walks and two strikeouts. He entered the game with just 14 walks on the year.
 
Offensively the Spartans scored or at least threatened to do so in every inning except the seventh and eighth. The game was tight early before MBU plated three runs in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings before pouring it on with six in the ninth.
 
For the first couple of innings, it appeared the Spartans would suffer from a day of missed opportunities, as they stranded five runners on base in the first two innings.
 
All that began to change in the third though when DH Joe Schmidt innocently earned a two out walk. Noah Hemphill followed with a walk of his own, then catcher Jakob Kouneski drove Schmidt home with a single for the first run of the game. It wasn't much but it foretold of better fortunes for the Spartans for the next three innings.
 
The away half of the fourth started a lot like the third…with the first two batters being retired. However, Blayne Yarger tripled to right center and scored on an Alex Adams single. With his team now up 2-0, Cole Robinson strided to the plate and delivered a telling blow. His no-doubter home run down the left field line gave an indication of how ready the Spartans were to put this game away. Robinson's towering blast brought home Adams and made it 4-0 Spartans after four.
 
But the Spartans were ready for more in the fifth. Hemphill was hit by a pitch to start the inning then advanced to second on a Kouneski single. That was the end of the day for Long, who was lifted for a reliever with two on and no one out. DJ Schmidt got in on the fun with a single to load the bases. Cesar Soto cleared those bases with a three-RBI double and the lead had swelled to 7-0 MoBap.
 
The Spartans were enjoying three-run innings so much, they did it again in the sixth. An error, a walk, and a single loaded the bases with two outs. Soto was plunked by a pitch of the eighth run for MBU. Another run scored on a wild pitch, before Blane Besse singled to score Kevin Watkins to give the Spartans a 10-0 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth.
 
Meanwhile, Green was cruising on the mound. Through six innings he had the Owls bats sleeping with just one hit, and no runs, with five strikeouts. The Owls would get on the board in the seventh when they opened the inning with back-to-back singles, then a fielder's choice followed by another single. The Spartans led 10-1 after seven innings.
 
MBU left no doubt by putting up a six-spot in the top of the ninth, aided in part by some loose defense from WWU. A leadoff walk by DJ Schmidt preceded errors on back-to-back plays that allowed him to come around to score. Yarger and Adams walked to load the bases. Besse would come home to score when Robinson was hit by a pitch. Another run came home when Joe Schmidt walked. Hemphill grounded into a bases loaded fielder's choice to chase home another. Back-to-back  RBI-singles by pinch hitters Daniel Ramirez and Tommy Patrick Jr. would round out the scoring for the Spartans, as they lead 16-1 going to the bottom of the ninth.
 
Reliver Greg Ryun worked the ninth and gave up a run on a hit with a walk and two strikeouts.
 
The victory by Green moves him to 9-0 on the season. The reigning AMC Pitcher of the Week is now tied for the lead in victories in the NAIA. He is averaging almost 14 strikeouts per game, which places him in the top five in the NAIA.
 
Kouneski was three for five in the game with an RBI. Robinson finished one for three with three RBI and two runs scored. His 10 home runs and 46 runs driven in lead the team in both categories.

To this point in the season, Owl's opponents had been hitting .241. MBU was 14 of 40 (.350) for the game. Conversely, WWU hit just .161 on the day. With the victory the Spartans are now 28-4 and 9-1 in the AMC. The Owls drop to 22-11 and 8-2 in the conference.
 
MBU and William Woods will meet two more times on Saturday. The seven/nine doubleheader gets underway at Noon.