CBC Splits Season Finale Doubleheader With William Woods

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            Conway, Ark. – Wrapping up the regular season with an American Midwest Conference doubleheader this afternoon, Central Baptist College baseball hosted the Owls of William Woods University at Bear Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas. CBC (21-26, 8-13 AMC) split on the final day of the regular season, dropping game one 9-0 before coming back to win game two 9-7 over WWU (28-18, 13-8 AMC).

GAME TWO – WWU 9, CBC 0

            William Woods scored one in the second, five in the fourth and three in the sixth for all the scoring in the game as CBC was only able to muster four hits, one from Steven Stewart, one from Danilo Taborda and two from Jaxon Kirkhuff. Ben Slate and Angel Maldonado, two of the five pitchers CBC used, both had scoreless outings.

GAME THREE – CBC 9, WWU 7

            The Owls scored quickly again in the first, plating a run on a groundout to take a 1-0 lead. CBC took the lead for the first time in the series in the bottom of the first, plating three runs on an RBI single by Gabe Walker, an RBI single by Ruben Hernandez and an error. The Owls charged right back and took a 5-3 lead in the second and added to their lead with two more in the third to make it 7-3. The Mustangs kept fighting, however, and started to chip away. Back-to-back RBI doubles by A.J. Serrano and Gage Harris in the fourth made it 7-5 and a solo home run by Gabe Walker, his eighth of the season, made it 7-6 in the fifth. Following a 1-2-3 top of the eighth by Christian Zincke, how gave the Mustangs six solid innings of relief, CBC took advantage of a tired pitching staff for the Owls in the eighth to take the lead for good. Austin Teal singled with one out, stole second and scored on Cameron Harden's game tying double to make it 7-7. Two batters later, pinch hitter Nick Aide chased home Harden with a double of his own to give the Mustangs the lead back and Stewart's RBI single gave the Mustangs a 9-7 cushion in the ninth. Put into his first ever save situation, Austin LeJeune produced drama in the ninth, allowing a hit and hitting a batter with one out before loading the bases on a bunt single. LeJeune did not break though and got the next two hitters, one via a strikeout and one via a ground out to second to nail down his first save of the season. Zincke got the win to improve to 4-1 on the season, scattering six hits over his six innings of work, allowing two runs (one earned) with a pair of walks and six Ks.

UP NEXT

            CBC opens the AMC Tournament on Tuesday, May 2, at 1 p.m. in a single-elimination game as the #6 seed, taking on the #7 seed Hannibal-LaGrange at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Ill. If CBC moves on, they would then play #3 William Woods later that night in the double elimination portion of the tournament.