03 May 2023 Mustangs stay in winner’s bracket
O’FALLON, Mo. – Beginning play in the American Midwest Conference tournament on Tuesday, Central Baptist College softball was on CarShield Field against Hannibal-LaGrange in a single-elimination game. CBC (23-26) not only beat HLGU (5-33) 15-5 in eight innings in the first game, they took the second game from William Woods (28-19), 5-3.
Several milestones were achieved during these contests. Steven Stewart drove in a run in the HLGU game and became the 10th player in program history with 100 career RBIs while Austin Teal moved into the top-10 all-time in total bases with 222 and Stewart also tied Nash Nichols for seventh on the all-time hits list.
GAME ONE – CBC 15, HLGU 5 (EIGHT INNINGS)
The Trojans jumped on the Mustangs and starter Mason Sellers quickly, plating five runs in the top of the first to chase Sellers and bring in Austin LeJeune. A Gabe Walker double in the first made it 5-1 and CBC would tie the score at five in the second on back-to-back doubles by Kyle Bass and Luke McBride, an error and a single by Walker. The Mustangs took the lead on McBride’s two-run homer in the third, the first of his Mustang career, and extended the lead to 8-5 in the fourth on another single by Walker. A.J. Serrano’s fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth, made it 10-5 and Ruben Hernandez crushed a solo home run to right, his second of the season, to make it 11-5 after seven. CBC ended the game in the eighth as Serrano mashed his second home run of the game to make it 12-5, Stewart got his RBI to make it 13-5 and Nick Aide hit a walk-off two-run double to bring the score final. LeJeune threw seven-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just five hits while walking three and striking out seven to earn his fifth win of the season.
GAME TWO – CBC 5, WWU 3
As the Mustangs advanced to the double elimination portion of the tournament, they faced a familiar foe as they took on William Woods for the fourth time since last Thursday. The Owls took a 1-0 lead in the first and a 2-0 lead in the fourth before a stolen base by Stewart in the fifth cut the deficit to 2-1. The Owls would a run in the bottom of the fifth to stretch the deficit to 3-1 and all was quiet until the top of the ninth. Bass led off the inning with a home run, his second of the season, to cut the deficit to 3-2 and Gabe Walker would tie the game three batters later with a ground-rule double. Serrano then gave the Mustangs the lead with a two-run single and starter Jaxon Kirkhuff locked the game down 1-2-3 in the ninth to secure the win. Kirkhuff threw a complete game for win number five, allowing six hits and three runs with three walks and a career-high 10 Ks.
Visit the current schedule at 2023 CBC Mustang Baseball Schedule – Central Baptist College (cbcmustangs.com).
