Baseball Pulls Away in Game Two For Doubleheader Split at Park

Parkville, Mo., (April 6, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College baseball team finished a Heart of America Athletic Conference series with a Saturday afternoon doubleheader in Parkville, Mo., against Park (Mo.).  The Vikings dropped the opener, 7-0, but followed with a 15-6 win in the second game to split the doubleheader.

Park threatened early in the first game, loading the bases with one out.  Junior Pitcher Caleb Monnig (Liberty, Mo.) got out of the jam by inducing a double-play grounder to Senior Shortstop Josias Mogollon (Bloomfield, Iowa) to keep the game scoreless.  The bottom of the second inning began with a solo home run for Park to put the team in front, 1-0.  The Pirates tacked on another three runs in the third inning, then increased the advantage to 7-0 with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth.  The Vikings were unable to put anyone on-base until the top of the seventh when Senior Centerfielder Ivory Daniels (Little Rock, Ark.) singled, followed by a walk from Junior Catcher Connor Bell (San Diego, Calif.), but a double-play later in the at-bat ended the rally attempt as Missouri Valley fell, 7-0.

Daniels had one hit, while Monnig went four innings, giving up nine hits and five earned runs with two strikeouts.

Game two started with Missouri Valley producing in the first inning to go in front as Bell and Junior Rightfielder Hiroto Kobayashi (Saitama, Japan) hit back-to-back doubles for the first run of the contest.  After Sophomore Pitcher Mason Fenwick (Mississauga, Ontario) struck out one and faced the minimum in the bottom of the first, MVC followed with another run in the top of the second as a grounder from Junior First Baseman Austyn Andrachick (Kalispell, Mont.) allowed Junior Designated Hitter Luke Stoner (Rockford, Ill.) to score and put the lead at 2-0.  The Pirates responded in the bottom of the second, and tied the teams at 2-2 on a two-run homer.  Missouri Valley put together a rally in the top of the third, as three-straight singles, from Kobayashi, Mogollon and Junior Second Baseman Ruben Fernandez (Madrid, Spain) allowed Kobayashi to score.  Stoner came through with a sac-fly to bring home Mogollon, and Freshman Leftfielder Mason Baer (Roselle, Ill.) knocked out a two-run homer to cap the four-run inning and put the Vikings ahead, 6-2.  Fenwick then worked around a two-out error in the bottom half of the inning to keep Park scoreless.

The fourth inning featured more offense for MVC, as the first five batters all reached safely with base-hits.  Andrachick led off with a single, Daniels then doubled, Bell brought home Andrachick on a single, Kobayashi singled to score Daniels, then a throwing error on a stolen base attempt allowed both Bell and Kobayashi to come home.  The Vikings scored four runs in the inning to build its lead out to 10-2.  The Pirates put together a rally in the bottom half, using four hits to score three runs and cut the deficit down to 10-5.  Missouri Valley kept working at the plate in the fifth, as a Bell single brought home Junior Third Baseman Dale Bratz (Carstairs, Alberta), then a Mogollon double scored Bell.  Fernandez capped the four-run inning with a single to drive in both Kobayashi and Mogollon and make it a 14-5 advantage.  Park tacked on one more run in the bottom of the fifth, but that's as close as the team could get.  Fernandez drove in the final run of the contest, in the top of the seventh, and Junior Pitcher Caleb Bergman (Alma, Mo.) took down the Pirates in order in the bottom of the seventh to finish out the 15-6 win.

Fernandez finished with three hits, one run and four RBI's, while Mogollon had three hits, three runs and one RBI.  Kobayashi and Bell each totaled three hits, three runs and two RBI's.  Baer added one hit, one run and two RBI's.  Missouri Valley had 16 hits and four walks as a team.  Fenwick went 3.2 innings, giving up five hits and five earned runs with three strikeouts.

Missouri Valley moves to 13-22 overall and 3-17 in the Heart.  Park sits at 22-10 on the season and 13-7 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking baseball team is scheduled to play a non-conference game at Central Christian (Kan.), in McPherson, Kan., Tuesday at 2 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.