Baseball Leads Early, Drops Games at Park

Parkville, Mo., (April 5, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College baseball team traveled to Parkville, Mo., Friday afternoon, to open a Heart of America Athletic Conference series against Park (Mo.) with a doubleheader.  The Vikings led early in both games, but fell in the opener, 4-2, then lost, 8-2, in the second game.

Missouri Valley opened game one with production from the plate in the first inning.  Senior Centerfielder Ivory Daniels (Little Rock, Ark.) led off with a double, and came home when Junior Catcher Connor Bell (San Diego, Calif.) put a single into centerfield.  Junior First Baseman Luke Stoner (Rockford, Ill.) added a single later in the at-bat, but MVC had two runners stranded as the lead sat at 1-0.  Senior Pitcher Dieterich Guertzgen (De Soto, Mo.) worked around a leadoff single to strand a pair of runners and end the at-bat with a strikeout.  After a scoreless second inning, which included one more strikeout for Guertzgen, Park responded with a rally in the third.  Four hits and one Viking error led to three runners coming home, and putting the Pirates ahead, 3-1.  Senior Shortstop Josias Mogollon (Bloomfield, Iowa) opened the top of the fourth with a single, but Missouri Valley was unable to cut into its deficit.

The bottom half of the fourth featured a pair of singles with no outs, and a sac-fly that produced one run to push the Pirate advantage to 4-1.  The Vikings got that run back in the top of the fifth.  With two outs, Daniels struck out swinging, but a passed ball allowed Daniels to reach first safely.  Bell brought home another run on a two-out single, and shrank the deficit to 4-2.  Guertzgen followed by taking down Park in order for the first time in the game, then struck out one to face the minimum in the bottom of the sixth.  Missouri Valley was unable to rally in its final two at-bats, as both innings went by without producing any base runners.  The Vikings fell by a final score of 4-2.

Bell led with two hits and two RBI's.  Daniels had one hit and on run scored, while Mogollon, Stoner and Designated Hitter Luke Hedger each had one hit.  Guertzgen went six innings with seven hits and two earned runs, while striking out five.

Missouri Valley went in front early in the second game, as Daniels opened with a triple and came home on a grounder from Bell to push the team ahead, 1-0.  Freshman Pitcher Mason Baer (Roselle, Ill.) then worked around a leadoff single, inducing a double-play started by Junior Third Baseman Jayden Mah (Nanaimo, British Columbia), then striking out the final batter of the inning.  Both teams were taken down in order in the second inning.  Daniels reached safely on a fielder's choice grounder in the top of the third, and went to second base on a wild pitch with two outs.  Daniels then came home after an error by the Park right fielder to put the advantage at 2-0.  The Pirates responded with a rally, scoring three runs on two hits and two MVC errors to move in front, 3-2 going into the fourth inning.

Park tacked on another pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, then brought home three runners in the bottom of the fifth.  The Vikings only produced one base runner in the final two innings, and fell by a final score of 8-2.

Daniels had one hit and two runs, while Bell added one hit and two RBI's.  Baer went four innings, giving up five hits and five earned runs with one strikeout.

Missouri Valley drops to 12-21 overall and 2-16 in the Heart.  Park improves to 21-9 on the season and 12-6 in the conference.

Up next, the two teams will finish their Heart series with a doubleheader in Parkville, Mo., Saturday, beginning at 12 p.m.

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.