Baseball Pulls Away From Central Christian on the Road

McPherson, Kan., (April 9, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College baseball team traveled to McPherson, Kan., for a non-conference game with Central Christian (Kan.), Tuesday afternoon.  The Vikings pulled away for a 14-7 victory.

The game started with Missouri Valley puting its first two batters on base in the top of the first inning, as Senior Centerfielder Ivory Daniels (Little Rock, Ark.) and Senior Second Baseman Ruben Fernandez (Madrid, Spain) both walked, but the pair were left stranded.  Central Christian threatened in its first at-bat of the contest, with a pair of batters reaching safely.  Senior Pitcher Dieterich Guertzgen (De Soto, Mo.) responded by striking out one and inducing a pair of fly-outs to get out of the jam, and end the scoring threat.  Central Christian went in front in the bottom of the second inning, knocking out a leadoff solo home run to pull ahead, 1-0.  The Vikings strung together a rally in the top of the third, which started on a Junior Catcher Evan Weavel (Rockford, Ill.) single.  Later in the at-bat, Fernandez doubled to bring home the first run of the inning and tie the teams at 1-1. Later, Freshman Leftfielder Mason Baer (Roselle, Ill.) brought in a pair of two-out RBI's, on a single, and put MVC in front for the first time, 3-1.  Junior Pitcher Bobby Ellis (Kennett, Mo.) worked in the bottom of the third, and struck out one batter and left one CCC runner stranded to keep the Vikings on top.

Missouri Valley tacked on another run in the fourth as Weavel reached safely as the leadoff batter after a dropped third strike.  Daniels then brought Sophomore Pinch Runner Nick Jeffries (Jefferson City, Mo.) home on a sac-fly to increase the advantage to 4-1.  Another run was tacked on in the fifth, as Junior Third Baseman Dale Bratz (Carstairs, Alberta) walked and eventually came home on a wild pitch to make it a 5-1 score.  Central Christian got that run back, producing with two outs, to work the gap down to 5-2, but Senior Pitcher Micah Copeland (Buckner, Mo.) got out of the inning with one runner left on-base.  More runs were produced in the sixth, as both Junior Rightfielder Hiroto Kobayashi (Saitama, Japan) and Baer drove in one runner each on singles to put the score at 7-2.  Daniels continued to extend the advantage in the seventh, belting out a three-run homer and making it 10-2.  Central Christian put together a small rally in the bottom half of the inning, using three hits and one MVC error to score three runs and trail, 10-5.  Missouri Valley added another three runs in the eighth, as Jeffries stole home and Daniels drove in a pair with a double.  One more run came home in the ninth, as Junior Leftfielder Sam Benz (Martinez, Calif.) scored on a balk.  Central Christian brought home a pair of runners in the ninth, but the Vikings earned a 14-7 win.

Daniels led with three hits, two runs scored and six RBI's.  Baer added two hits and three RBI's, while Fernandez had two hits and one RBI.  Kobayashi totaled one hit, two runs scored and one RBI.  The Vikings had 11 hits and 11 walks in the game.

Missouri Valley improves to 14-22 overall while Central Christian drops to 7-30.

Up next, the Viking baseball team hosts No. 6 Central Methodist (Mo.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference series this weekend.  Saturday, a doubleheader will start at 1 p.m., followed by a Sunday doubleheader at 1 p.m.

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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.