Baseball Splits Sunday Doubleheader Against Benedictine

Marshall, Mo., (Apr. 23, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College baseball team finished a weekend series at home host Benedictine (Kan.), Sunday afternoon at Indian Foothills Park. The Vikings led early in the first game, and used a walk-off homer to win the opener, 6-5. Missouri Valley fell in a high-scoring second game, 12-9.

Game one opened with Sophomore Pitcher Christopher Nielsen (Melbourne, Australia) working around a lead off error to strand the runner on-base. The bottom half of the inning featured two players hit by a pitch and another walk to load the bases. Freshman Designated Hitter Luke Brooks (Hastings, Neb.) worked a walk to bring home Junior Centerfielder Ivory Daniels (Little Rock, Ark.), while Sophomore First Baseman Ruben Fernandez (Madrid, Spain) hit a sac-fly to score Senior Third Baseman Jumpei Ohashi (Hokkaido, Japan) to put the team in front, 2-0. The Vikings added to their lead in the second inning as Senior Right Fielder Kyle Weber (Marshall, Mo.) and Junior Shortstop Josias Mogollon (Barbquismeto, Venezuela) reached on walks, stole a base and came home on a throwing error to make it a 4-0 score. Benedictine got one of those runs back in the third with a solo homer, but MVC extended its lead out to 5-1 on a solo home run from Sophomore Second Baseman Jayden Mah (Nanaimo, British Columbia) in the bottom half of the inning.

The Ravens cut into its deficit over the next two innings, hitting two more home runs, and making it 5-4 going into the sixth inning. Benedictine threatened in the top of the sixth, using a walk and a single to put two runners on-base. However, Senior Pitcher Koby Linder (Green Castle, Mo.) got out of the jam with a grounder to Mogollon at shortstop that turned into a double--play to end the at-bat. The top of the seventh started with a double and an intentional walk. A grounder to Ohashi at third resulted in the lead runner being forced out, but a throwing error on the play allowed one runner to reach home and tie the contest at 5-5. Senior Pitcher Caleb Bergman (Alma, Mo.) finished the inning with one runner stranded, and the game went into the bottom of the seventh. Daniels came to the plate with one out, and sent the first pitch of his at-bat over the left-field fence for a solo homer and a walk-off 6-5 win.

Freshman Catcher Masayoshi Hattori (Tokyo, Japan) had two hits, while Daniels added one hit, two runs and one RBI, hitting the game-winning solo homer. Mah had one hit, one run and one RBI on a solo home run. The win went to Bergman, who pitched the seventh inning, giving up one hit and no earned runs.

Game two started with an early lead for Missouri Valley, as Mah hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to make it a 2-0 score. Benedictine answered with a rally in the second inning, scoring four runs on five hits and one error to top on top, 4-2. The Vikings cut the deficit in the bottom half of the inning, using a Mogollon single to score Fernandez. The Ravens added to their lead with another rally in the third, this time scoring five runs on four hits and one error to put the advantage at 9-3. More scoring came in the bottom of the third, as Ohashi singled and came home on a base-hit from Senior Designated Hitter Mitchell Crouch (Paducah, Ky.), followed by a double from Fernandez that brought home Crouch and put the deficit at 9-5. Benedictine tacked on another run in the fourth, and MVC used another Fernandez double to bring home one run and put the score at 10-6. The sixth inning featured one more run from BC, and the Vikings looked to rally in the bottom of the inning. Mogollon was hit and Daniels walked. With two outs, Fernandez added another double, this time bringing home Mogollon and Daniels to bring the team into an 11-8 score. Both teams scored one run apiece in the seventh inning, but the Vikings fell by a final score of 12-9.

Fernandez led with three hits, one run and four RBI's. Crouch had two hits, one run and one RBI, while Mogollon added one hit, one run and one RBI. Mah finished with one hit, one run and two RBI's.

Missouri Valley moves to 14-28 overall and 10-18 in the Heart with the split. Benedictine is now 14-27 on the season and 9-16 in the conference..

Up next, the Viking baseball team will play its final regular season series, going to Parkville, Mo., for games against Park (Mo.), Friday and Saturday.

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.