UPLAND, Ind. – After stumbling out of the blocks in their first game of the NAIA Baseball Tournament Opening Round in Upland, Ind. on Monday, the Missouri Baptist Spartans faced the unenviable task of battling their way back through the elimination bracket if they wanted to advance in the tournament. Well….so far, so good. Needing two wins to stay alive the Spartans accomplished exactly that on Wednesday.
 
GAME ONE: MBU 16, Indiana Tech 7
The Spartans took an early 9-1 lead over the Warriors after three innings, then saw the lead dwindle to 9-7 after six, before pouring on seven runs late to win comfortably over the No. 5-seed Indiana Tech.
 
Known more for mashing the baseball, the Spartans offense played a lot of small ball, with 13 of their 15 hits being singles. Blayne Yarger finished the game three for five at the plate with three runs scored. Alex Adams, Cole Robinson, DJ Schmidt, and Cesar Soto all had two RBIs in the contest. Eight of the nine Spartans' starters had at least one hit in the game.
 
Spartans' starter Teague Robertson was uncharacteristically wild in his four innings of pitching. He surrendered four runs on just five hits but walked six and struck out three. Robertson was relieved by Sean Keene who got the win despite allowing three runs in an inning and a third. Will Casel was outstanding in earning the save. The senior from Ankeny, Iowa pitched three and two-thirds innings with just a single hit, a walk and four strikeouts. Casel entered the game with one out in the bottom of the sixth and uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch to the first batter he faced. Then he shut down the Warriors offense until giving up his only hit allowed with one out in the bottom of the ninth. By that time, the Spartans offense had bolstered him to a 16-7 advantage. Those types of arm-saving performances are key for a club that will need to win four games in two days to advance in the double-elimination tournament.
 
GAME TWO: MBU 11, Taylor 7
The Spartans chances of getting two wins and staying alive in the tournament looked bleak early in their second game of the day. Host-school and No. 17 ranked Taylor University (Ind.) put the Spartans in a 5-0 hole after just two innings. Not to worry though. Not with the Spartans offense all season long and beginning to show signs of life in the first game.
 
Alex Adams got the Spartans off the mat and back in the game with a three-run home run in the top of the third. Adams' 22^nd homer of the season did more than just get the Spartans within two runs; it changed the entire trajectory of the game. What once seemed a party atmosphere and a coronation at the Trojans' Winterholter Field, suddenly felt like a tight game, with the momentum decidedly in the visitor's dugout.
 
But the real momentum would have to wait a few innings. On the hill, Spartans' starter Landon Albers lasted just three and two-thirds innings. Like Robertson before him, it was wildness that cut his day shorter than expected. The sophomore from Breese, Ill. threw 101 pitches and allowed six runs on six hits, but thanks to a couple of Spartans fielding errors, only two of the runs were earned. But he walked five and struck out four before handing the hurling duties over to Tony Caldwell. The junior from Strafford, Mo. shut down the Trojans' offense for the majority of the rest of the game. He didn't allow a hit until the eighth and gave up just a single run on a home run in the ninth. Caldwell got the win and is 3-2 on the year.
 
Trailing 6-3 entering the sixth inning, the MBU offense got to work. First it was a two-run home run by Jayden Orozco, his 15^th of the year, to close the gap to 6-5.
 
Then in the top of the seventh, the floodgates opened. Blayne Yarger led off with a single, then went first to third on an Adams single. Yarger would come home to score to tie the game on a wild pitch with Cole Robinson at the plate. Robinson and Jakob Kouneski both reached via a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Cameron Roll gave the Spartans their first lead with an RBI single to right, scoring Adams. Jayden Orozco followed with a sacrifice fly to score Robinson. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Cesar Soto singled to bring home pinch-runner Kevin Watkins with the third run of the inning to make the score 9-6 MBU. Two batters later, batting for the second time in the inning, Yarger singled to score Soto and Cameron Roll to stretch the lead to 11-6 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
 
Save for the ninth inning home run, Caldwell kept Taylor in check the rest of the game and the Spartans eliminated the second-seeded Trojans by an 11-7 score.
 
Even with the two victories on Wednesday, the Spartans' job is only half done. In order to advance to the NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, the Spartans will need to beat the only team that has beaten them in the Upland Regional, but it comes with a twist. They will need to do it twice. The Spartans will play Indiana University Southeast Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. Central. If they win that game, they will have to beat the Grenadiers again in order to advance. IU-Southeast has beaten top-seeded MBU, second-seeded Taylor, and Indiana Tech to remain the only unbeaten team in the bracket.