No. 6 Baker Earns Second Straight Tournament Win with 11-10 Victory over No. 5 Park

OZARK, Mo. - A game-ending double play that stranded the tying run at third sealed an 11-10 victory for No. 6 Baker as the Wildcats knocked off No. 5 Park on Saturday afternoon for their second straight win of the 2025 Heart Baseball Conference Tournament.

With their second straight win, Baker advanced in the consolation bracket and will face No. 4 Mount Mercy tomorrow (May 4) at 10 a.m. in Ozark, Mo.

The Wildcats led wire-to-wire and were fueled by an electric seven-run first inning, while tacking on a couple of important runs late to come away with the one-run victory.

Clarke significantly outhit BU, doubling them up with an 18-9 advantage, but had 12 runners left on base, including the game-tying run in the ninth.

Camden Karlin, who grinded through three-plus innings on the mound, went 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBI. Eli Young also finished with a multi-RBI day with a two-run double in the third.

Baker came right out of the gate with a huge first inning that saw them rack up seven runs to take a commanding lead early on in the game.

The Wildcats' big inning started with an RBI double from Javier Aguirre and featured them loading the bases with nobody out.

Along with a bases-loaded walk from Jackson Truman, Tyson Wallace and Kolden Howerton connected on a couple of station-to-station RBI singles to string together the rally. Karlin capped the first with a two-run single on his second hit of the frame to make it a 7-0 lead for BU.

It didn't take long for the Pirates to come storming back, though, as a six-run top of the third brought them within one. The Wildcats quickly countered with a three-run bottom of the third to stretch the lead back out to 10-6.

Howerton scored on a throwing error in the third and Young smashed his second double of the game to punctuate the three-run inning.

Park scratched across a run in the fourth and in the seventh to inch back in it and make it a two-run ballgame.

Another bases-loaded walk brought home the eventual game-winning run for BU in the bottom of the seventh with Seth Brown drawing the free pass this time to give Baker a three-run lead.

The Pirates made things interesting in the top of the ninth with a leadoff double turning into a run on a BU throwing error on the next at-bat and then an RBI single to bring them within one with zero outs.

Closer Gage Callaghan kept his composure and induced the infield fly rule for the first out before a 5-4-3 game-ending double play to earn his second straight save and preserve the 11-10 victory for the Wildcats.

Baker will square off against Mount Mercy for the first time this spring after the two teams didn't face each other during the regular season. The Mustangs defeated No. 2 MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday and No. 7 Culver-Stockton on Friday after falling to the Pirates in their first game of the tournament.

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