Baseball Finishes Series at Clarke

The first inning featured a leadoff walk from Junior  Shortstop Josias Mogollon (Barquisimeto, Venezuela), who then stole second, but he was left stranded.  Junior Pitcher Dieterich Guertzgen (De Soto, Mo.) struck out a pair in the bottom of the inning to keep the game scoreless.  Clarke went in front in the second inning, producing three hits and scoring four runs.  The Vikings were unable to cut into their deficit in the third or fourth innings, and CU could not increase its advantage with Guertzgen striking out three more batters.  The bottom of the fifth featured the Pride rallying to score eight runs, followed by the team adding one more run in the sixth.  Missouri Valley was unable to produce from the plate late in the game, and fell, 13-0.

Sophomore Second Baseman Jumpei Ohashi (Ashikawa, Japan) and Sophomore Catcher Josh Turner (Pensacola, Fla.) each had one hit.  Guertzgen picked up the loss, going 4.1 innings with eight hits, eight earned runs and seven strikeouts.

Missouri Valley took an early lead in the second game, as Junior Centerfielder Ivory Daniels (Little Rock, Ark.) singled, and advanced on a pair of errors.  Sophomore First Baseman Luke Stoner (Rockford, Ill.) struck out, but a wild pitch allowed him to reach first safely, and brought Daniels home to make it a 1-0 score.  Clarke followed with one run on two hits in the bottom half of the inning, but Pitcher Sophomore Christopher Nielsen (Oakleigh, Australia) by striking out the final two batters and keeping the teams tied.  The Pride went on top in the bottom of the second inning, hitting a grand slam homer to hold a 5-1 lead.  Clarke tacked on another run in the third.  Missouri Valley cut into its deficit in the fourth, which included a walk from Freshman Designated Hitter Luke Brooks (Hastings, Neb.), followed by Sophomore Leftfielder Jayden Simplicia (Honolulu, Hawaii) reaching on a single.  A grounder from Freshman Catcher Masayoshi Hattori (Tokyo, Japan) allowed Brooks to score on an error and make it a 6-2 game.  The Vikings added one more run in the fifth, as Daniels doubled and scored on an Ohashi single to cut the gap to 6-3.  The Pride rallied in the fifth, scoring a total of nine runs.  After Clarke added another two runs in the sixth, Stoner capped scoring with a two-run homer in the seventh.  Missouri Valley fell, 17-5.

Daniels had three hits and two runs scored, while Stoner added one hit, one run and two RBI's on a two-run homer.  Nielsen picked up the loss, going 4.1 innings with nine hits, nine earned runs and three strikeouts.

The losses drop Missouri Valley to 10-23 overall and 6-14 in the Heart.  Clarke improves to 19-11 on the season and 12-5 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking baseball team hosts Central Methodist (Mo.) in a Heart series, beginning with a doubleheader April 15 at 1 p.m., at Indian Foothills Park.

Game 1 Box Score-Click Here

Game 2 Box Score-Click Here 

ABOUT MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.