Bolivar, Mo. – The SBU baseball team began conference play this afternoon as they hosted the McKendree Bearcats. Southwest Baptist kicked off GLVC with a bang, sweeping the doubleheader. They move to 6-14 (2-0 GLVC) on the season.
"The guys played really hard today. They had energy all day and were locked in." Head Coach
Charles Bradley said, "There were some good things today, and some things we need to improve on. Three of our freshman pitchers threw today; it is exciting to watch them continue to grow. A bunch of different guys stepped up, and that is what good teams are able to do."
Game 1: Win, 18-8
Freshman
Jake Fuller picked up the win for the Bearcats coming in at the top of the third inning. He pitched five strong innings allowing six hits and only three runs. This was his first win of the season.
It was the SBU bats that that were the stars of the game with 13 total hits scoring 18 runs. Five different Bearcats had more than two hits, with
Dean Hagenhoff and Mul Muholland leading the team with three hits. Hagenhoff led the team in RBIs with five and was just a double short of a cycle. Three of his RBI's came off a three-run home run in the bottom of the second, which gave SBU their first lead of the game. After an answer by McKendree to retake the lead, SBU quieted that quickly with a six run 4
th and held them scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Game 2: Win, 9-5
Sam Peterson continued the streak for the freshman coming in and picking up the win for the Bearcats. He picked up his second win of the season after coming in relief for
Kayden Lewis who pitched a strong 3.2 innings only allowing 3 runs.
Sal Jacobo picked up his first save of the season as he came in for the final two outs.
The Bearcat bats stayed hot as they scored nine more runs off 11 hits in this game. Junior
Joe Brown was a perfect four-for-four in this game knocking in 1 RBI. Jacobo and
Zeke Skinner had their second straight game with two hits, with Skinner knocking in two RBIs.
Southwest Baptist will return to action tomorrow as they host McKendree for another doubleheader. First pitch of the first game is scheduled for 12:00 PM.
