Wildcats Drop Four-Game Set at Mount Mercy

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - After going 2-6 in its first two conference road trip, Baker baseball's road woes continued this weekend as the Wildcats dropped all four games of their Heart of America matchup at Mount Mercy on Friday and Saturday.

The Mustangs outscored BU, 26-10 and won three of the four games by four or more runs. Sevon Battle went 6-for-12 with three doubles and two RBI in the first three games of the series.

Game 1 - MMU 7, BU 1
The Wildcats' lone run in the sixth only dented their five-run deficit as the Mustangs took the opener, 7-1.

Scoring a run in the first, Mount Mercy brought four more runs across the next inning to take an early 5-0 lead. The Mustangs dealt a devastating blow in the bottom of the sixth, using a two-out rally to score two more runs.

In the top of the sixth, Brayden Vawter drew a leadoff walk and after an Eli Young single, Jaxon Holzem worked a free pass to load the bases for BU. Vawter came home on a wild pitch to make it 5-1, but the Mustangs squashed the momentum with a couple of strikeouts to end the inning.

Game 2 - MMU 6, BU 5
A three-run Baker rally in the sixth was spoiled by a walk-off home run from the Mustangs as the Wildcats dropped a game-two heartbreaker, 6-5.

After Mount Mercy took a 3-0 lead, an RBI double from Battle followed by a sac fly from Young brought the Wildcats within one in the top of the third. MMU plated runs in the third and the fifth to run its lead back up to a three-run advantage.

Young blasted a leadoff home run to spring the rally for BU in the top of the sixth. Kolden Howerton's fifth double of the season drove in Tanner Twillman and Howerton came across for a game-tying run on a passed ball later in the inning.

After both teams went scoreless in their next trips to the plate, Mount Mercy's Joel Vaske led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to give the Mustangs the walk-off victory.

Game 3 - MMU 7, BU 3
The Wildcats used a three-run fifth to take their first lead of the series, but the Mount Mercy lineup came through again by scoring six late runs to take game three, 7-3.

In the top of the fifth, Baker got a pair of run-scoring doubles courtesy of Battle and Chris Bollefer with Battle putting the Wildcats in front before an RBI groundout from Vawter saw them take a 3-1 lead.

The Mustangs responded quickly in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run reclaiming the lead for the hosts. Mount Mercy padded on another three-run inning in the sixth to run away late with the series-clinching win.

Game 4 - MMU 6, BU 1
Baker took a 1-0 lead in the second, but Mount Mercy rattled off six unanswered runs to complete the conference sweep with a 6-1 in the weekend finale.

A sac fly from Peyton Sparks put the Wildcats up, 1-0 in the top of the second before the Mustangs tied things up in the home half on a wild pitch.

After a couple of scoreless innings, MMU broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run inning and added two more runs in the sixth to score at least six runs in all four games of the series.

Up next, Baker will host a string of five straight home games, starting with a matchup against Culver-Stockton on April 13-14 at 1 p.m. at Sauder Field.

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