FULTON, Mo. – The Missouri Baptist Spartans completed a three-game weekend series sweep of William Woods University, winning the first game of the day 1-0 and then pounding out a 15-5 victory in the second game.
GAME ONE: MBU 1, WWU 0 (7 inn.)
Runs were at a premium in the first game of the day with the only run crossing the plate in the fifth inning of the seven-inning game.
Both starters,
Tanner Young for MBU and Brock Glavey for William Woods, worked through four scoreless innings before being lifted. Young gave up two hits while walking four and striking out three. Glavey gave up four hits, with two walks and three strikeouts.
The Spartans had eight hits in the game and despite only scoring a single run, they had a runner in scoring position in every inning except the seventh. For their part, the Owls had a runner on third base in both the bottom of the second and the third and couldn't chase him across. Both times Young was able to work out of the jam.
Alex Adams was two for three while scoring the only run of the game in the top of the fifth. With two outs he earned a walk, then advanced to second on a
Cole Robinson single. Designated hitter
Joe Schmidt followed with a single to drive Adams home with the only tally of the game.
Micah Diamond came on in relief to pitch the fifth and sixth innings, giving up two hits while walking one and striking out one. Reliever
Skout Rallo came in for the seventh to nail down his fifth save of the season.
Cesar Soto joined Adams as the only two Spartans with two hits in the game, going two for three.
GAME TWO: MBU 15, WWU 5 (8 inn.)
Whereas the first game was about pitching and occasional timely hitting, game two was anything but quiet as the Spartans bats were on fire early and late. MBU took what was a close game and blew it wide open to win via "mercy rule."
MBU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after three innings, then the Owls clawed their way back to make it a one run game in the sixth. But the Spartans put an end to the festivities by scoring four in the seventh and six more in the eighth to win 15-5.
After leaving the bases loaded in the first inning, MoBap got over the hump and scored four in the second. The first two batters recorded outs, then
Cesar Soto followed with a walk. A
Blane Besse single followed by a
Blayne Yarger double brought Soto in to score the first run.
Alex Adams singled to right field to score both Blane and Blayne, for his first two of seven RBIs he would have in the game.
Cole Robinson singled to bring home Adams and the Spartans were up 4-0.
In the third,
Noah Hemphill walked then came home on a Besse single to make it 5-0.
MBU Starter
Billy Heil had given up two hits and had faced just one over the minimum when he took the hill for the bottom of the fourth. Unfortunately for him, he was greeted rudely with a home run off the bat of Alex Wimer, the first of two on the day and the season for the Owls third basemen. A double and a single were sandwiched around a strike out to bring home the second run, then a third came home on another single, the fourth hit of the inning for WWU. The Owls had gotten close at 5-3.
The game would stay that way until the bottom of the sixth when hurler
Greg Ryun entered the game for MBU. The first batter reached on a two-base error by Besse in left field, then moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly. The Owls had scratched their way back to trail only 5-4 after six innings and there was renewed hope for the home team.
That flicker of hope was quickly extinguished by the Spartans as they put four on the board in the top of the seventh.
DJ Schmidt and Soto were aboard when Yarger singled to right field, scoring Schmidt, and making it 6-4. Adams then deposited a baseball over the left field fence for his fifth home run of the season and his fifth RBI of the day to make the score 9-4 in the top of the seventh.
That is all the cushion MBU reliever
Brady Stephan, who had come on to record the final out of the sixth, would need. But he would get so much more. Like five more runs in the top of the eighth when the Spartans sent 11 men to the plate. The inning featured six runs on just two hits.
Three of the runs in the top of the eighth were the result of bases loaded walks. One of the two hits was from Adams who singled to drive in two more, giving him seven driven in for the game.
Stephan surrendered a single, a double and the second Wimer home run of the day over his two and a third innings, but the Spartans were victorious 15-5.
Heil got the win and is now 4-1 on the season. For the Owls, Jared Stephens took the loss and drops to 3-2.
The seven runs batted in for Adams are a new career high. His previous high was five, set against Harris-Stowe State last season. He now has 42 RBI on the season, second only to
Cole Robinson with 48.
The Spartans are now 30-4 on the season, and at 11-1 in the American Midwest Conference, they are two games clear of second place Columbia College. The series sweep is the third consecutive for MBU, with those coming over Harris-Stowe State University, Central Baptist College, and now William Woods. MBU also is now in the midst of their second 10-game winning streak of the season, following their 11-0 start to the season. MBU outscored WWU 32-7 in sweeping the three games this weekend.
Due to a cancellation of their mid-week doubleheader against Peru State College, the next scheduled games for MBU will be Friday in Walnut Ridge, Ark. when they face Williams Baptist College for a doubleheader.
