Baseball Tops Dickinson State in High-Scoring Game

Kansas City, Kan., (Feb. 25, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College baseball team played one more game in Kansas City, Kan., continuing a two-game series with Dickinson State (N.D.), Sunday afternoon.  The Vikings led early, and held on for a high-scoring 14-12 victory.

The game started with early production from the plate by Missouri Valley, as Senior Centerfielder Ivory Daniels (Little Rock, Ark.) led off with a double in the top of the first inning, and came home on a double from Freshman Pitcher Mason Baer (Roselle, Ill.).  The next batter was Junior Third Baseman Jayden Mah (Nanaimo, British Columbia), who scored Baer with a single, and the Vikings held a 2-0 lead.  Dickinson State got those runs back in the bottom half of the inning, on a two-run homer, but Baer got out of the inning with a strikeout to leave one DSU runner stranded.  Missouri Valley strung together a long rally in the second inning as Senior Shortstop Josias Mogollon (Bloomfield, Iowa) started the at-bat with a walk, and Junior Second Baseman Austyn Andrachic (Kalispell, Mont.) doubled.  The pair scored on a double from Junior Catcher Connor Bell (San Diego, Calif.).  Later in the inning, Daniels drove home a runner with another double, and a Junior Rightfielder Hiroto Kobayashi (Saitama, Japan) double allowed Daniels to score.  Junior First Baseman Joe Hedger (Logan, Iowa) drove home Mah with a single, and Mogollon finished out the rally with a run-scoring single to cap a six-run inning and move the team into an 8-2 advantage.  Baer worked around a two-out double in the bottom half, ending the inning with a strikeout.  The Vikings tacked on one more run in the third, which included a solo homer from Daniels and an RBI double by Hedger to make it a 10-2 score.

Dickinson State worked back in the bottom of the fourth, using one hit and two walks to load the bases with no outs.  The next batter brought each runner home with a grand-slam to cut the team's deficit to 10-6.  Junior Pitcher Caleb Monnnig (Liberty, Mo.) got out of the inning with a strikeout to end the rally.  The bottom of the fifth featured more production from DSU, as the team strung together four runs that created two runs to make it a 10-8 score.  Missouri Valley came through with run support in the top of the sixth as Kobayashi reached safely after being hit to start the at-bat.  Hedger walked and Mogollon was hit to load the bases with one out.  Senior Catcher Josh Turner (Pensacola, Fla.)f came up and knocked out a grand-slam homer to push the lead out to 14-8.  Dickinson State was unable to rally in the bottom half of the inning, as Sophomore Pitcher Coy Smith (Marshall, Mo.) worked a pair of strikeouts.  After a scoreless top of the seventh, DSU attempted another comeback in its final turn at the plate.  One run came home on a single, while another two runs scored on a one-out double.  The tying run was at the plate with two outs, and the batter put a single into the outfield.  One runner scored, but Daniels threw out the second potential scoring runner at home to end the threat and secure a 14-12 victory.

Daniels led with four hits, three runs and two RBI's, along with his solo homer.  Turner had one hit, one run scored and four RBI's on his grand-slam.  Baer finished with two hits, two runs and one RBI, while Hedger added two hits, one run and two RBI's.  Mogollon totaled two hits, two runs and one RBI.  Senior Leftfielder KJ Hartline (Windsor, Colo.) added two hits and one run.  Baer went three innings, giving up five hits, six earned runs with three strikeouts.  Missouri Valley totaled 17 hits, 14 RBI's and six walks as a team.

Missouri Valley improves to 5-2 on the season, while Dickinson State drops to 1-9.  The Vikings topped Dickinson State in a game Saturday, 7-1.

Up next, Missouri Valley plays a single nine-inning game at William Woods (Mo.), Tuesday at 1 p.m., in Fulton, Mo.

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ABOUT MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.