Game 1: Baker 5, Evangel 1 | Box Score
Game 2: Baker 13, Evangel 10 | Box Score
Records: Evangel (13-22, 6-17); Baker (17-23, 10-14)
Location: University Field

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Baker scored four early runs to claim the opening game of its Heart Conference doubleheader with Evangel, then erupted for eight runs late in game two to sweep the twin bill and salvage a series split Monday afternoon at University Field.

Patrick Gaul led Evangel with four hits on the day, including a fifth-inning, go-ahead grand slam in the second game that staked EU to a three-run lead.

Donovan Sutti went a combined 4-for-5 with four RBIs for Baker, while Brian Wircenske logged a pair of two-hit games to lead the Wildcats.

Game 1 – Baker 5, Evangel 1
Baker struck for four runs in the top of the first inning, then rode the right arm of Dalton Dultmeier to a 5-1 victory over EU. Sutti led BU with a 2-for-3 effort, including a key two-run single in the Wildcats' four-run rally.

Dultmeier limited Evangel to one run on five hits in his 6.0 innings, striking out three and walking two in the process to earn his fourth win of the season.

The Wildcats' early offensive surge started with Bailey Pattin's one-out double off EU starter Levi Loughridge (2-3) and continued with three additional BU hits to put the visitors on top. Hunter Gudde's base hit to left brought in Pattin, before a double steal and a Brian Hawkins single made it a 2-0 game.

Jacob Sula coaxed the first of his three walks in the game, but Loughridge rebounded to strike out Wircenske for the second out of the inning. Next, Sutti laced a base hit to right to chase home a pair of Wildcat baserunners for an early four-run BU lead.

In the third, Evangel benefitted from a Tyler Coffelt double and a Jordan Yates two-out single to score its lone run of the game.

EU would threaten in each of its final two turns at bat, putting two on to bring the potential tying run to the plate in both the sixth and seventh innings. But Dultmeier (4-2) induced an inning-ending ground ball to escape the sixth, and lefty Hank Dobson retired Noah Suiter on a fly ball to center the following inning to end the game.

Game 2 – Baker 13, Evangel 10
After building a four-run, first-inning lead in the opening contest, the Wildcats once again used a big scoring rally to claim an early advantage in the nightcap. BU scored a run in the first on Jared Parenti's leadoff homer, then added three more in the second to establish a 4-0 cushion.

But it would be the Wildcats' late charge that proved to be the difference this time, as Baker overcame a five-run Evangel rally in the fifth by scoring eight times over its final two turns at bat to complete the sweep.

Parenti led the Baker outburst, scoring the tying run in the sixth, then driving in the go-ahead run with his one-out double that helped spur a five-run rally for the Wildcats.

After Baker took a 5-3 edge into the home half of the fifth, Evangel answered with its biggest inning of the series to take its first lead of the day. Dalton Cook, who tripled home EU's first run of the game in the second, delivered a key single that loaded the bases as part of the rally. Nathan Lamb squeezed home the first run of the inning, before Gaul unloaded on a Zach Reeder (2-3) offering and deposited a grand slam off the top of the fence in left-center field for an 8-5 EU lead.

The Wildcats had an answer, however, as Sutti doubled to open the sixth, and Gabriel Lopez launched a two-run homer off the scoreboard in right-center to pull BU to within a run. Parenti drew a walk, and Raybourn doubled him home with one out to even the score at 8-8.

BU went back to work immediately in the top half of the seventh, using a Wircenske leadoff single as the catalyst for a big inning. Sutti sacrificed the baserunner into scoring position and Lopez walked to set the stage for Parenti's RBI-double to right-center that put the Wildcats on top to stay.

Pattin added a two-run single as part of a 2-for-5 effort, and Tucker Flory came off the BU bench to drive in two more runs with a two-out single. In all, Baker sent 10 men to the plate against a total of three different EU pitchers in the inning.

Evangel mounted a threat of its own in the bottom of the seventh, getting a two-out, two-run single from Suiter to bring the potential tying run to the plate. But Dobson finished off the victory by inducing a fielder's choice chopper to third, locking up his third save of the season in the process.

Cook went 3-for-4 to pace Evangel's offense, while Gaul, Yates and Suiter each contributed two-hit games as well.

Up Next
Evangel will travel to Parkville, Mo., to open a four-game Heart Conference series with Park University on Friday (April 23) at 1 p.m.

For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EUAthletics, Twitter (@EUAthletics), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the new Evangel Athletics Gameday App through Google Play.  

–EvangelAthletics.com–