Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University baseball team used strong pitching and timely hitting to come away with a double-header sweep over Winona State on Saturday in Bolivar. The Bearcats picked up a 7-3 victory in game one of the double-header, while taking game two 3-2. With the two victories, SBU improves to 3-1 on the young season.

After a scoreless first inning of game one, the Bearcats were the first to break onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the second. Payton Reed led the inning off with a single, followed by a double from Chance Wolfe to put runners on second and third. Jake Vore then hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Reed and give SBU a 1-0 lead. Winona State responded with three runs in fourth, two unearned, but the Bearcat offense came back strong in the bottom half of the inning.

Reed led the inning off with a walk, and after two outs, back-to-back singles from Ross Wolfe and Zach Snodgrass loaded the bases. Caleb Sneed promptly singled home Reed and Wolfe to tie the game up at 3-3, and a WSU error brought hom Snodgrass to give the Bearcats a 4-3 lead. Winona State responded in the next half inning with a run to tie the game up, but the Bearcats battled right back in the bottom half of the inning. Spencer Blacksher led the inning off with a single, was moved over to second on a groundout, and was brought home on a Chance Wolfe rbi single. After a Jake Vore single, Ross Wolfe picked up an RBI when he singled home Chance Wolfe to give the Bearcats a 6-4 lead. In the sixth the Bearcats added one more run as they went on to claim a 7-4 game one victory.

Tim Collins earned the victory on the mound, throwing 5 innings while allowing two earned runs, while Sam Vergara picked up his first save of the season, tying the all-time saves record at SBU.

In game two Southwest Baptist and Winona State were stuck in a strong pitchers dual. Winona State struck first, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead. From that point foward SBU starter Cole Roark was lights out for the Bearcats, and the SBU offense broke through in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs to tie the game up 2-2. Christian Binger led the inning off with a walk, and after back-to-back singles from Reed and Chance Wolfe the Bearcats had the bases loaded with one out. Jake Vore drew an rbi walk, followed by an rbi fielder's choice from Ross Wolfe to tie the contest up at 2-2. SBU and WSU put together a pair of scoreless innings before the Bearcats came up in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs in the inning, Sneed singled and was brought home on a walk-off double by Trevor Bowling as SBU claimed a 3-2 victory. Cole Roark was outstanding on the mound, throwing 8.0 innings while allowing one earned run and striking out 8, while Matt Dye picked up the victory throwing a scoreless inning of relief.

The Bearcats will return to action on Friday, February 20 when they travel to Washburn to open up a four-game series against the Ichabods. Opening pitch of game one is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. from Topeka, Kansas.