O'FALLON, Mo. – The Missouri Baptist Spartans had mixed results at the American Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday, dropping a morning game to Columbia College 13-5, but returning in the afternoon to soundly dispatch of the Central Baptist College Mustangs 14-2 in their second game of the day.
 
GAME ONE: CC 13, MBU 5
In a battle between the top-seeded Spartans and the second-seeded Cougars, it was the vaunted Columbia offense that won the day Thursday. The Cougars scored in all but two innings of the nine-inning affair and beat MBU 13-5. The Cougars scored their runs by pounding out 19 hits, including four home runs, to chase Spartans pitching ace Anthony Green early in the game. The previously unbeaten Green lasted just three and a third innings while giving up eight runs on nine hits. The St. Louis native was 11-0 coming into today's game but suffered his first loss.
 
Cougars starter Reece Clapp was not overly dominant, but did enough to keep the Spartans offense at bay. He lasted five innings while giving up two runs on five hits. His biggest challenge for Clapp was issuing five walks while striking out two.
 
The Spartans had a golden opportunity to gain momentum and climb back into a 9-1 game in the bottom of the sixth but made a couple of critical baserunning errors. Noah Hemphill and DJ Schmidt both walked to begin the inning. However, Hemphill strayed too far from second base and was picked off second base by a pinpoint throw from Riley Poulton, the Cougars catcher. Jakob Kouneski then walked to again put runners on first and second now with one out. Kevin Watkins came in to pinch-run for Kouneski but was quickly picked off by Poulton on a throw down to first base. The first three batters had walked and the Spartans only had a runner on second and two outs. Cesar Soto then walked, Blaine Besse singled, Blayne Yarger walked and Alex Adams did the same. A bases loaded foul out by Cole Robinson then ended the inning. In the inning the Spartans had six walks, a single and a pop-out, and scored just two runs to make the score 9-3.
 
Two Cougars had two home runs a piece, ensuring the momentum remained squarely in the Columbia dugout throughout the game.
 
One of the lone offensive bright spots for the Spartans was AMC Player of the Year Blane Besse blasting a two-run home run in the eighth inning. The home run is number 16 for the senior from Wildwood, Mo., as he leads the team in that category. Besse and fellow outfielder Blayne Yarger were the only two Spartans to record two hits in the game.

MBU stranded 13 runners on base in the game, leaving at least two runners on four of the nine innings.
 
The loss dropped the Spartans to 41-6 on the season and moved them into the elimination bracket of the AMC Baseball Tournament. Columbia improved to 37-13 and remains the only team without a loss in the tournament.
  
GAME TWO- MBU 14, CBC 2
Needing a win to keep their AMC Baseball Tournament Championship hopes alive, the Spartans responded in the best way possible. The offense launched five home runs and Spartans starting pitcher Micah Diamond was outstanding as he saved the bullpen by pitching a complete game.
 
Catching a Central Baptist Mustangs team that was playing its sixth game in three days, it was only a matter of time before the CBC bullpen would wear thin. With the Spartans entering the game hitting near .340 as a squad, the 14 runs scored by MBU was not a surprise.
 
What was a surprise…and a welcome one at that…was the return of the power stroke for shortstop Alex Adams. Having hit just one home run since March 27, the senior from Wildwood, Mo. hit a pair of three run bombs and accounted for seven runs batted in. He went three for four and raised his average by nine points to .394.  Outfielder Blayne Yarger was two for four with three RBIs and two runs scored, including his sixth home run of the season. Since the start of the Hannibal-LaGrange University series last Thursday, Yarger has raised his batting average by a whopping 44 points to .427, and has now taken over the team lead in that statistic. DJ Schmidt and Noah Hemphill also went yard. The homer for Hemphill was his first of the season.
 
Diamond was excellent on the mound as he needed only 86 pitches to throw the seven-inning complete game. Along the way he gave up two runs on eight hits while walking one Mustang batter and fanning four. His record on the season stays perfect at 8-0.
 
With the win, the Spartans get another crack at Columbia College…and maybe two. With Columbia still unbeaten in the tournament, the Spartans now must beat the Cougars twice on Friday. They will play the first game at Noon at Carshield Field in O'Fallon, Mo. and if the Spartans can prevail, the two clubs will play a winner-take-all game immediately following.