ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Yesterday the Harris-Stowe State University baseball team was back on the diamond when they traveled to Missouri Baptist University to take on the Spartans in the final two games of a four game set. The Hornets split the doubleheader with the Spartans as they won the first game by a final score of 4-1 and lost the second game by a final score of 15-5 to improve to 12-21 on the season and 8-14 in the American Midwest Conference. With the split, the Spartans improve to 28-15 on the year and 20-8 in the AMC.

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Hornets put together 11 hits in the game. The Spartans came out and scored a quick run in the bottom of the first to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The Hornets had a tough time getting anything going offensively through the first few innings, but picked it up as the game progressed and were able to score one run in the third, one run in the fourth, and two runs in the seventh to solidify the win.

Tomas Pinet Jr. (2-2) was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed six hits and one earned run while striking out six in 5.0 innings. Dajaun Griffin came in to relieve Pinet Jr. as he allowed two hits while striking out two in the final two innings of the contest. Alek Sierra led the way at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with three RBI. In addition, Matt Janocik went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Hornets put together 12 hits in the game. They carried over their momentum into the second game as they were able to score a run in the top of the first to take an early lead. The Spartans bounced back and scored one run in the bottom half of the inning and five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 6-1 advantage. The Hornets responded and were able to score two runs in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 6-3, but a four run rally from the Spartans in the bottom half of the frame put them up 10-3 heading into the fifth. Harris-Stowe responded with another run in the top of the fifth, but five runs over the next two innings gave the Spartans a 15-4 lead heading into the seventh. The Hornets were able to score a run in the top of the seventh but that was as close as they would get as the Spartans picked up the final outs to solidify the win.

Tommy Benner (2-1) got the start in this one as he allowed five hits and five earned runs while striking out one in 2.0 innings. Preston Burnett, Brian Myers, James Shaw, and Nathan George came in to relieve Benner as the four combined to allow 11 hits and nine earned runs while striking out two in the last four innings of the game. Louie Castellanos led the way at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with a solo homerun (1). In addition, Austin Palacios went 2-for-3 with two RBI.

This marks the end of the 2021 baseball regular season. The Hornets have earned the sixth seed in the AMC Baseball Championships and will be taking on Williams Baptist (Ark.) University on Tuesday, May 4^th at Carshield Field in O'Fallon, Missouri. The game is set to start at 1 p.m.