Baker Baseball Drops Two Close Games to Spires in Road Doubleheader

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. - Finishing up a suspended game one from earlier in the month, Baker baseball came away empty-handed Wednesday in a makeshift doubleheader at Saint Mary, suffering a pair of narrow setbacks that included a walk-off finish in the nightcap.

Both games came down to the crucial seventh inning as the Spires plated two runs in the top half of game one, including the eventual deciding run, to escape with a 5-4 win before delivering the day's decisive blow in the bottom of the seventh of the series finale when a two-out walk-off grand slam lifted USM to a 6-3 victory.

The suspended contest resumed an April 1 meeting between the two clubs that was halted due to weather in the top of the fourth with Saint Mary holding a 3-1 lead, and the Spires maintained that edge throughout the restart despite a late Baker rally.

USM scored three runs in the top of the second and BU scratched one back in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI double from Camden Karlin before the game was suspended.

Picking things back up in Leavenworth, Kan., the Wildcats immediately got within one after Jon Jenkins came home to score on Blake Prewitt's sac fly RBI in the bottom of the fourth. With Baker knocking on the doorstep, the Spires came through with their key two-run top of the seventh to make it a 5-2 deficit for BU.

Pinch-hitter Zach Miller led off the bottom of the seventh with his first homer of the spring, sending a solo shot over the left field fence to spark the BU rally. The Wildcats used the momentum from Miller's bomb to load the bases later on in the frame and Jenkins pulled the team within one on a sac fly RBI, but the Spires were able to get the final out to spoil the comeback.

In game two, the two teams battled for the upper hand in a tightly contested matchup that featured Baker taking a one-run edge on three separate occasions, while USM never had the lead until its game-winning swing.

BU fired up five arms to go up against a two-headed attack from USM as Ashton McCurty (3.0 IP) and Vaughn Wells (2.0 IP) both logged scoreless outings to preserve the 1-1 tie going into the sixth.

Jenkins opened up the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the second to give Baker a 1-0 lead before USM tied things up in the bottom of the fourth.

TJ Armstrong later followed suit with a solo homer in the sixth that pushed the Wildcats back in front at 2-1, giving both Armstrong and Jenkins their seventh long ball of the season and tying them for the team lead. The Spires evened things up again in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run of their own.

In the top of the seventh, Karlin followed up Carson Adams' one-out double with an RBI single to left field to give the Wildcats a one-run lead once again heading into the bottom half.

After allowing a leadoff walk to start the inning, Baker got the Spires down to their final out on back-to-back groundouts before two straight walks loaded the bases, setting up the walk-off grand slam that completed USM's non-conference sweep.

Up next, Baker will host Park in a four-game conference series this weekend (April 18-19) at Sauder Field, with both doubleheaders scheduled for 1 p.m. Prior to Sunday's game, the Wildcats will also honor the 1992 baseball team and the 1982 softball team as Baker's newest Teams of Distinction.

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