1st Inning Proves to be too much for Tigers

Heading into the first mid-week matchup of the season, it was a top 20 showdown in St. Louis, MO, as the 17th ranked Tigers headed to 10th ranked Missouri Baptist for a doubleheader.

The first inning seemed to go by in a flash, as there were five quick outs. However, the 6th out was hard to come by for the Tigers, as sophomore Justin Anaya got the start. Anaya got two outs quickly, but with two outs the Spartans went on a rally. A quick double, hit by pitch, and walk had the bases loaded. A walk scored the first run, but then the bases clearing double to deep center field cleared the bases. Followed by another double, MBU was able to get to a 5-0 lead in the first, all with two outs. 1 inning is all Anaya would go, as senior Andrew Day would come in relief. Day would shut the door for the Tigers as he would go the remaining 5 innings, while only allowing one run to score. Day's final line would be 5 IP, 3 H, 1K, and 1 ER. 

The offense showed up early for the Tigers, but they were not able to capitalize on their efforts until the third inning. In the third, junior Joshua Duarte singled home the first run for the Tigers. Duarte would also come around to score, to cut MBU's lead to 5-2. The two other runs for the Tigers would come courtesy of Max Flock, who got the start at DH today, when he would launch a ball over right field line, and single home a run in the 7th. Both Payton Rios and Max Flock would have three hits in game one of the doubleheader.