Young, Wallace Lift Wildcats to Non-Con Victory over Kansas Christian, 12-5

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. - For the second straight game, the Baker baseball team posted double-digit runs to come out on top of its midweek non-conference matchup against Kansas Christian, 12-5 here Wednesday evening at Sauder Field.

Playing in a single, nine-inning game, the Wildcats put up seven runs in three innings to take a 7-1 lead midway thru before putting the game away with a four-run eighth for the team's fourth win of the week.

Eli Young and Tyson Wallace accounted for eight of the 12 runs scored by BU with both players earning four RBI in the game. Young went 4-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and two doubles, while Wallace tallied three doubles to give the BU duo a combined seven extra-base hits.

The Wildcats used a total of seven pitchers in the non-con contest with Will Isaly (1.2 IP), Ty Clark (1.1 IP), Erik Kelly (1 IP), John Green (1 IP), Mason Chance (1 IP), Jake Miller (2 IP) and Spencer McGuire (1 IP) all seeing action.

Kansas Christian was first to the scoreboard with an RBI single in the top of the second, taking an initial 1-0 lead before the Baker bats started to come alive.

Young pulled off a little deja vu for his first home run of the game in the third, drilling one to left field that just cleared the foul pole to put the Wildcats in front, 3-1. The senior slugger hit a walk-off home run to nearly the exact same spot on Sunday to give BU a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Clarke.

The Wildcats tacked on two runs in each of the next two innings to push their lead out to 7-1. Wallace led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to the gap in left center and, after back-to-back walks, Camden Karlin knocked in a pair on a two-out single.

It was another leadoff double that led to the scoring for BU in the fifth with Young opening up the frame with an extra-base hit. Jon Jenkins followed with a hit and then Wallace drove both players in with a line drive to the fence for his second straight double.

After the Falcons got two back in the sixth, Young blasted his second homer of the game with a solo shot to straightaway left to make it an 8-3 lead for BU.

A two-run home run from KCC cut into the Baker lead in the eighth and put the visitors only three runs back.

BU responded with a three-run bottom of the eighth to push its lead back out to six runs and all but put the game out of reach. Wallace notched his third double to plate his final two RBI and then the next two runners to cross for BU came home on a balk and a wild pitch.

McGuire came in and pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to seal a 12-5 victory for the Wildcats, improving their home record to a 13-6 mark this season.

Baker continues its non-conference week with another single-game matchup at home, this time facing Bethany for a nine-inning game on Friday, April 11 at 4 p.m. at Sauder Field.

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