Baseball Season Ends In AMC Tournament

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            O'Fallon, Mo. – Looking to avoid elimination for the second straight day, Central Baptist College baseball took on the Spartans of Missouri Baptist at CarShield Field this afternoon in the semifinals of the American Midwest Conference tournament. CBC (27-28) kept it close early, but couldn't keep up offensively, falling to MBU (25-22) by the score of 17-3.

            Jay French had another big day, clubbing two home runs to give him 10 on the season. With the two homers, French became the new single-season hits leader with 86, eclipsing Jalin Lawson's 84 hits back in 2016.

GAME FLOW

            French would lead off the game with a home run to the opposite field to give CBC a 1-0 lead in the first. The lead was short lived, however, as the Spartans plated three runs in the bottom half to put the Mustangs down 3-1 after one. A sac fly from Graham Dykes in the second and French's second home run of the game in the third would tie the score at 3 before the Spartans scored 14 unanswered runs to end the game in a run rule.

GAME NOTES

• French set eight single-season, single game or career records this season: hits (86, season record; 233, career record), runs scored (195, career record), doubles (54, career record), triples (11, career record) and stolen bases (61, season record; 114, career record, 6 single-game record), while also finishing one total base shy of the all-time record with 372, and tying the record for runs scored in a game (five)
• The Mustangs fell to 12-14 all-time against the Spartans
• The Mustangs could only muster five hits against the Spartans
• Ruben Hernandez joined an exclusive club of only three players ever to draw 40 bases on balls in a season (Jalin Lawson & Aaron Boucher)
• Steven Stewart broke his only single season record for times hit by a pitch with 26, breaking the record he set last season (18)
• Here's where the team ranked in a single season all-time: runs scored (fifth – 511), hits per game (fifth - 9.3), batting average (fifth - .318), runs scored (second – 426), runs/game (first – 7.7), doubles (tied for seventh – 90), triples (second – 12), home runs (third – 65), total bases (third – 821), slugging percentage (second - .512), walks drawn (first – 264), walks/game (first – 4.8), hit batters (first – 84), on base percentage (first - .434), stolen bases (first – 190), steals/game (first – 3.5), stolen base percentage (first – 84 percent)

Congratulations to the baseball team on a fantastic season!