Baseball Sweeps Benedictine With Walk-Off Win in Game Two

Marshall, Mo., (Apr. 22, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College baseball team opened a weekend series at home against Benedictine (Kan.), Saturday afternoon at Indian Foothills Park. The Vikings opened with a 9-1 win in the first game, then used a seventh inning rally to win with a walk-off hit, 5-4, and sweep the doubleheader.

Missouri Valley went in front early in the first game, producing from the plate in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Shortstop Josias Mogollon (Barquismeto, Venezuela) was hit to lead off, and Junior Centerfielder Ivory Daniels (Little Rock, Ark.) singled, but was caught stealing at second base. Later in the inning, Senior Third Baseman Jumpei Ohashi (Asahikawa, Japan) walked and Sophomore Designated Hitter Jayden Mah (Nanaimo, British Columbia) singled to bring home Mogollon, followed by a single from Sophomore Second Baseman Ruben Fernandez (Madrid, Spain) that allowed Ohashi to score and put the team ahead, 2-0. Junior Pitcher Dieterich Guertzgen (De Soto, Mo.) struck out one batter and faced the minimum in the top of the second. The Vikings added to their lead in the bottom half, as Senior Rightfielder Kyle Weber (Marshall, Mo.) singled, then stole second. He moved to third on a balk, then came home on a single from Mogollon to make it a 3-0 score. Guertzgen worked around a lead off single in the third, and struck out two batters to leave the runner stranded. The bottom of the third featured a long rally for MVC. Fernandez brought home another run, this time on a single to left, while Freshman Catcher Masayoshi Hattori (Tokyo, Japan) scored Mah on an infield single. The rally was capped on a Mogollon run-scoring single to push the advantage out to 6-0.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Guertzgen got out of jam with two runners on-base and one out to strand the pair and keep BC scoreless in the top of the fifth. Missouri Valley followed with more offense as Fernandez and Sophomore Leftfielder Jayden Simpliciano (Honolulu, Hawaii) both singled, while Weber was hit to load the bases. All three runners came home on a Mogollon double, and MVC sat with a 9-0 lead going into the sixth inning. The Ravens got one of those runs back in the sixth, using two hits and one error to cut the deficit, but that was the only run the team could produce in the contest as Missouri Valley eventually earned a 9-1 victory.

Fernandez hit safely in all four plate appearances, adding two runs and two RBI's. Mogollon totaled three hits, one run and five RBI's, while Mah had two hits, one run and one RBI. Daniels added two hits and Weber finished with one hit and two runs scored. Guertzgen picked up the win, going six innings with seven hits and no earned runs, striking out four.

Game two started with both teams putting together some offense from the plate in the first inning. Benedictine came up with six hits and used a pair of MVC errors to score three runs in the top of the first inning. Missouri Valley countered with singles from Mogollon and Ohashi, along with a walk from Daniels to load the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the first. An error on a Mah grounder allowed Mogollon to score, while Freshman Designated Hitter Luke Brooks (Hastings, Neb.) brought home Daniels on a sac-fly as the team cut the deficit to 3-2. Sophomore Pitcher Kotaro Uchida (Chichibu, Japan) struck out a pair in the second inning, then faced the minimum in the third and fourth innings, striking out another two batters. Missouri Valley was limited to only one hit through the bottom of the fourth inning, on a Simpliciano single in the second inning. Uchida took down BC in order in the fifth, striking out one, while Weber singled in the bottom of the inning, but was left stranded. Both teams scored in the sixth, which started on a lead-off homer from the Ravens in the top half of the inning. The bottom half featured a solo homer from Mah to cut the gap to 4-3, but a double-play ended a rally attempt for the Vikings. Benedictine put its leadoff batter on with a single in the seventh, who was thrown out trying to steal second base by Hattori to help end the scoring threat. A rally in the bottom of the inning started on a single from Hattori, followed by a walk from Weber. With two outs, Daniels doubled to bring home the tying run. Ohashi came to the plate with two runners in scoring position, and drove home the game-winning run on a walk-off hit to secure a 5-4 victory and a doubleheader sweep.

Ohashi led with two hits and the game-winning RBI, while Weber had one hit and the game-winning run. Daniels finished with one hit and one run scored, while Mah had added one hit, one run and one RBI. The win went to Senior Pitcher Tanner Hecht (Jackson, Mo.) who pitched the final two innings in relief, giving up one hit with one strikeout.

Missouri Valley improves to 13-27 overall and 9-17 in the Heart with the sweep. Benedictine drops to 13-26 overall and 8-15 in the conference.

Up next, the Vikings and Ravens finish their series with a Sunday doubleheader at Indian Foothills Park beginning at 1 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.