The brooms will have to be put back in the closet for another day.
The Master's baseball team had a chance to sweep the No. 16 Missouri Baptist Spartans on Saturday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium, but ended up on the wrong of the 15-11 score to pick up their first loss of the season.
The Mustangs (2-1) showed they could be a team of contention by getting the series win over a Spartans club that finished seventh in the NAIA World Series and a team that many believe will not only make it back to the final dance but have a chance to win it all.
"That's a quality club over there," said
Monte Brooks, head coach of The Master's baseball team. "Those arms are legit. They have quality pitchers who can throw at any speed and a few players who have interest from major league teams."
For the weekend, TMU scored 29 runs over the three games, an offensive output not seen for a couple of years.
"I'm really encouraged with our offensive output," Brooks said. "Multiple innings with runs, some big time clutch hits, quality at-bats against a top-5 team."
The Mustangs got on the board first when
Ty Becks ground ball to first scored
Isaiah Morales. After giving up two runs in the top of the second, TMU scored two more when Morales singled to left field to drive in both
Scotty Pieper and
Owen Payn to go up 3-2.
But in the top of the third, the Spartans showed why they are considered one of the top teams in the nation when they put five more on the board to take the lead for good.
The Master's were able to get two more across in the fourth when Beck's single to right scored Payn and Morales. But it was four more in the top of the seventh followed by another three in the top of the eighth that really solidified Missouri Baptist's strength in this game.
And while the Mustangs got a solo home run from Beck in the seventh plated five in the bottom of the eighth from a 2-run home run by
Tommy Gwinn, an RBI double by
Austin Young and a 2-run double by Beck, the rally was too short and too late to overcome the 14 on the board for the Spartans.
Winning in the GSAC always comes down to pitching, with a strong rotation and a deep bullpen. Coach Brooks is happy with what the Mustangs showed in these first three games, but acknowledges there is work to be done.
"In the first game we threw strikes, only one walk (from winning pitcher
Carson Knapp over 5.0 innings pitched) and the only runs they got were from solo home runs," Brooks said. "No 3-run johnsons. The difference in these other two games is we had (23) walks and we got behind in counts. We did have some spurts, though, of throwing well, every single pitcher. (
James Coker) had spurts of throwing well."
It was Coker who got the start on Saturday, a junior who transferred from LA Valley College. He gave way to
Robert York for 1.2 innings,
Elijah McInturf,
Luke Scott for an inning and
Michael Chung.
And while Brooks is coming away from this series "encouraged" by what his team showed, his is more excited about what the weekend provided his team.
"What I loved the most is we played a lot of players. In game two almost the entire active team played. And so people got their feet wet."
The Master's will be back home in Lou Herwaldt Stadium on Wednesday when they take on NCAA Division II Cedarville University (OH). First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
