#MustangsWin! CBC Comes From Behind Three Times To Beat Hannibal!

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            North Little Rock, Ark. – Opening the American Midwest Conference schedule this afternoon, Central Baptist College baseball hosted the Trojans of Hanniball-LaGrange this afternoon at Burns Park. CBC (14-9, 1-0 AMC) came from behind on three separate occasions to defeat HLGU (6-8, 0-1 AMC) 17-15 in a wild affair.

            The story of the game was walks, as the two pitching staffs combined to allow 20 during the contest. The issuance of free passes allowed Jay French to break the all time bases on balls record, as he walked three times during the game to give him 75 in his career.

SUMMARY

            HLGU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first on starter Andrew Killough and CBC had to begin their comeback early. A Wille Baez sac fly in the first cut the deficit to 5-1. After a scoreless second from Killough and reliever Ben Slate, CBC chipped away even more, plating three in the inning on a Steven Stewart RBI single, a steal by Jay French and an error that he scored on and a second sac fly by Baez to make it 5-4. HLGU would make it 6-4 against Slate in the third before CBC took their first lead of the contest in the bottom half. Graham Dykes would leadoff the inning with a triple and would score on a single by Austin Teal to cut the deficit to 6-5 before an error tied the game and CBC took the lead on a single by Logan Easterling.

            Ruben Hernandez would add to the lead in the fourth with a solo home run, his second of the season, to make it 8-6, but HLGU would not go quietly, scoring once in the fifth and three more times in the sixth to retake an 11-8 lead. CBC came storming back again in the bottom of the seventh, scoring six times, including a three-run home run from Logan Easterling, his seventh, a two-run single by Ty Decker and a double from Austin Teal to make it 14-11 after seven. However, the Mustangs surrendered the lead again, allowing four in the eighth to trail 15-14 heading to the bottom of the inning, setting up heroics in that inning.

            The bottom of the eighth began with an infield single by Luke McBride and the third walk of the day issued to French. Following a pitching change and a strikeout, Easterling would also earn his third free pass of the day and would be lifted for courtesy runner Gage Harris. Baez would then come up and deliver, pounding a double to right center field and clearing the bases, giving CBC a 17-15 lead headed to the ninth. Jackson Lindsey would come on in the ninth and earn his first career save, working around a leadoff walk to close the game. Killough went one inning and allowed five runs on two hits with seven walks and a strikeout. Slate went 4.1 innings and allowed six runs on nine hits with a walk and two Ks. Devon Koonce faced one batter in the sixth before being relieved Slayton Holland, who got the final two outs of the inning around a hit. Gram Middleton earned his first career win in relief, throwing two innings and allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• CBC is now 16-2 all-time against the Trojans
• French has now set three program records this season in stolen bases, runs scored and walks and he has the opportunity for at least two more
• French also tied a single-game record by scoring five runs in the game, becoming just the second player ever to score five runs (Santez Richardson, March 28, 2017 vs. Crowley's Ridge)
• Wille Baez had five RBIs in the game, the second time he has accomplished that in his career (April 20, 2021 vs. Crowley's Ridge)
• The Mustangs record 15 hits in the game, the third time they've recorded at least 15 this season
• CBC had nine more stolen bases, giving them 87, the ninth most in a single season and one more than they had all of last season

UP NEXT

            The Mustangs and Trojans resume their three-game series with a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at noon. The first game will be seven innings and the series finale will be nine.