FULTON, Mo. – No. 6 Missouri Baptist University baseball claimed the Heart of America Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship with a doubleheader split at William Woods University on Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans will enter the Heart Conference Tournament at the Ozark Mountain Sports Complex in Ozark, Mo., as the No. 1 seed. The first game is set for Thursday, April 30.  

Game One Recap
The Spartans wasted no time getting started, plating a run in the first on an RBI single from Max Shabestari before adding another in the second on Sam Paule's run-scoring hit.

Missouri Baptist broke the game open in the third inning, highlighted by Shabestari's grand slam that pushed the lead to 6-0. Matis Crouwel added an RBI groundout later in the frame to extend the advantage to seven.

After William Woods got on the board in the bottom of the third, MBU answered again in the fourth. Jayden Orozco launched a two-run homer, and another run scored on a sacrifice fly from Kai Gray to make it 10-1.

The Spartans continued to pile on in the fifth, with Orozco and Shabestari each delivering RBI singles to stretch the lead to 13-1.

Shabestari led the offensive explosion, going 3-for-4 with seven RBIs, while Orozco added three RBIs and scored three times. Missouri Baptist finished with 11 hits and drew nine walks.

On the mound, Tait Robertson turned in a strong outing, allowing two runs on seven hits over 6.1 innings while striking out four to earn the win. Mason Arnold closed out the game in relief.

William Woods managed eight hits, including a solo home run from Jackson Kirn in the seventh, but could not keep pace with Missouri Baptist's offense.

Winning Pitcher: Tait Robertson (5-1)
Losing Pitcher: Jakob Koehn (4-5)
 
Batting Leaders:
Max Shabestari: 3-for-4, Grand Slam, 7 RBI
Jayden Orozco: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB
 
Game Two Recap
William Woods struck quickly in the first inning, capitalizing on an error to plate three unearned runs. Camron Casso delivered an RBI single in the frame, Kaden Kinsler followed with an RBI triple, and Evan Rainey added a sacrifice fly to give the Owls a 3-0 lead.

The Owls extended the advantage in the second on an RBI single from Jude Gremillion, then added another run in the fourth on a solo home run by Jackson Kirn to make it 5-0.

MBU was held in check offensively for most of the game despite collecting six hits. Gray accounted for the Spartans' lone run with a solo home run in the seventh inning and finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Paule added two hits, while Marcus Graham chipped in another.

Tyler Timmerman took the loss, allowing five runs—three earned—over six innings while striking out five.

William Woods pitcher Brayden Groseclose earned the complete-game victory, limiting MBU to one run while working around four walks.

The Spartans were unable to generate timely offense, stranding six runners and hitting into three double plays in the defeat.

Winning Pitcher: Brayden Groseclose (6-2)
Losing Pitcher: Tyler Timmerman (5-3)
 
Batting Leaders:
Kai Gray: 3-for-3, HR, RBI
 
Record:
No. 6 Missouri Baptist: 38-8, 24-4 Heart
William Woods: 26-20, 17-11 Heart
 
What's Next?
The Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament begins on Thursday, April 30, at the Ozark Mountain Sports Complex in Ozark, Mo.
  Read Full Article