HATTIESBURG, Miss. – No. 12 Missouri Baptist University completed a 4-0 road trip on Saturday and pushed its winning streak to five games with an 8-6 win over Indiana University Kokomo.

MBU is now 7-1 overall in 2026, including ranked wins over No. 1 Louisiana State University Shreveport and two over No. 11 William Carey University.  

Indiana Kokomo Recap
Both starting pitchers had the game scoreless through the first two innings, but the third inning broke the silence.
 
Griffin Brown walked with one out, followed by a throwing error on a Jayden Orozco single that brought in the runner. A few batters later, Jonny Marquez doubled down the right field line to bring in a pair of runs to open a 3-0 lead. Matis Crouwel singled to left to bring in Marquez to extend the lead to four.
 
A pair of RBI knocks and a run-scoring pop-up in the bottom of the third tied the game for Kokomo.
 
JD Whitter took over pitching duties in the bottom of the fourth and worked around a one-out walk with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout. Crouwel followed up in the next half inning with a single that was misplayed and allowed another run to score to put MBU back out in front 5-4.
 
Riley Sands drove in a pair of runs for the Cougars on a double in the sixth, but Marcus Graham worked a two-out, game-tying RBI single in the top of the seventh to score Orozco and to force extra innings.
 
In the eighth, IU Kokomo made errors on three out of the first four plays in the top half to hand the Spartans a 7-6 lead. Orozco made it hurt more with an RBI knock to left field.
 
Quentin Graves, a 6-1 right-handed pitcher from Lake Mary, Fla., kept the ball in the eighth after tossing a scoreless seventh. He allowed a one-out bunt single before getting a pop out and a swinging strikeout to pick up his first win of the season.
 
Starting pitcher Tyler Timmerman went three innings and allowed four runs, one earned, on five hits. JD Whitter went three innings out of the bullpen, giving up two earned on two hits and three strikeouts. Graves ended the day with a pair of scoreless innings, one hit, and two strikeouts.
 
Winning Pitcher: Quentin Graves (1-0)
Losing Pitcher: J. Forson (0-1)
 
Batting Leaders
Jonny Marquez: 1-for-2, 2B, 2 RBI
Matis Crouwel: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
 
Record:
No. 12 Missouri Baptist: 7-1
Indiana Kokomo: 0-7
 
What's Next?
The Spartans are scheduled for the home opener against Doan University on Friday, Feb. 20. They will play two against the Tigers beginning at 11 a.m., at Spartan Baseball Field, followed by a single game on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 11 a.m.
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