Baseball Out Hits William Woods in Home Win

Marshall, Mo., (March 12, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College baseball team hosted William Woods (Mo.) in a non-conference 9-inning contest Tuesday afternoon at Indian Foothills Park.  The Vikings set home run records and earned a 24-17 victory.

The game opened with Freshman Pitcher Gavin Locke (Concordia, Mo.) taking down William Woods in order in the top of the first inning, and the teams went scoreless in their first at-bats.  The Owls went in front in the second inning scoring three runs on four hits.  Locke followed with facing the minimum in the third, striking out one batter to keep MVC in a three-run deficit.  The Vikings came back with a long rally in the bottom of the third. Senior Centerfielder Ivory Daniels (Little Rock, Ark.) drove home the first run of the inning with a double, while Senior Shortstop Josias Mogollon (Bloomfield, Iowa) drove home one runner with a single.  Junior Third Baseman Jayden Mah (Nanaimo, British Columbia) added another RBI with a grounder to tie the teams at 3-3.  The rally continued in the at-bat with a two-run homer from Junior Designated Hitter Hiroto Kobayashi (Saitama, Japan), while Junior Rightfielder Dale Bratz (Carstairs, Alberta) tripled to score two runners.  Bratz came home for the final run of the inning, capping an eight-run, seven-hit at-bat that put the team on top, 8-3.

William Woods got two of those runs back in the top of the fourth, and made it an 8-5 score.  Missouri Valley responded with more production from the plate in the bottom half of the inning.  Mogollon and Mah both singled, Mogollon scored after an error trying to throw Mah out at second base on steal attempt.  Kobayashi then belted a two-run homer, and Junior Leftfielder Mason Baer (Roselle, Ill.) added a solo home run to put the lead at 12-5.  The Owls countered with three runs in the top of the fifth, but MVC responded with three more runs in the bottom half.  Daniels knocked out a two-run homer, and a Mah grounder allowed Mogollon to score and make it a 15-8 contest.  More scoring came in the sixth, as both teams brought home two runs apiece.  Both Viking runs were scored on a two-run homer from Bratz to make it a 17-10 advantage. 

The seventh inning featured long rallies from both teams during their respective at-bats.  William Woods tacked on six more runs, to cut the gap down to 17-16.  Missouri Valley followed with the same output.  Mah doubled to bring home Mogollon and Daniels, while Kobayashi knocked out his third homer of the game, a two-run home run, followed later by a two-run homer from Bratz to extend the MVC lead to 23-16.  The Owls produced one run in the top of the eighth, but Missouri Valley got that run back with a leadoff homer from Mogollon to start the bottom of the eighth at-bat.  Junior Pitcher Caleb Bergman (Alma, Mo.) worked around a single and a walk in the top of the ninth, as Daniels got the last out by throwing down a runner trying to reach third base after a fly-out.  Missouri Valley finished out a 24-17 victory.

Leading the way was Kobayashi who reached a program-record with three home runs in the game.  He totaled three hits, three runs and six RBI's.  Mogollon came through with five hits, five runs scored and two RBI's.  The five hits in a single game ties the program-record, last reached by Jacob Stafford against Northwestern (Iowa) back on March 7, 2015.  Bratz totaled four hits, five runs and six RBI's.  Daniels had three hits, three runs and three RBI's, while Mah ended with two hits, two runs and four RBI's.  Baer added two hits, three runs and one RBI.  In all, Missouri Valley had 21 hits and set a new program-record for single-game home runs with eight in the contest.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 8-10 on the season, while William Woods drops to 11-12-1.

Up next, the Viking baseball team will host a four-game weekend Heart of America Athletic Conference series with Culver-Stockton (Mo.).  The first doubleheader takes place Saturday at 1 p.m., at Indian Foothills Park.

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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.