Baseball Falls to No. 6 Central Methodist in Doubleheader

Marshall, Mo., (April 13, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College baseball team opened a Heart of America Athletic Conference series against No. 6 Central Methodist (Mo.) Saturday afternoon in a doubleheader at Indian Foothills Park.  The Vikings dropped both games to the Eagles.

Game one opened with Central Methodist using two hits and a fielder's choice grounder to produce two runs in the top of the first inning.  Senior Pitcher Dieterich Guertzgen (De Soto, Mo.) got out of the inning with a strikeout to strand two runners on-base.  The Eagles threatened again in the top of the second inning, putting a pair of runners into scoring position.  Guertzgen got out of the jam without surrendering a run.  Missouri Valley cut into its deficit in the bottom half of the second, as Junior First Baseman Austyn Andrachick (Kalispell, Mont.) knocked out a solo homer to make it a 2-1 score.  Central Methodist began to pull away in the third inning, bringing home four runs, then adding another run in the fourth.  The fifth inning featured six more runs for the Eagles.  Junior Second Baseman Ruben Fernandez (Madrid, Spain) drove in a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Vikings fell by a final score of 12-3.

Fernandez finished with one hit and two RBI's, while Freshman Leftfielder Mason Baer (Roselle, Ill.) had two hits.  Andrachick had one hit, one run scored and one RBI with his solo homer.  Guertzgen went 4.1 innings with nine hits and nine earned runs to go with five strikeouts.

Missouri Valley got out front early in the second game, helped in the top of the first inning with a double-play started by Junior Third Baseman Dale Bratz (Carstairs, Alberta) to keep Central Methodist scoreless.  The bottom of the inning featured a two-out solo homer from Junior Rightfielder Hiroto Kobayashi (Saitama, Japan) to move the team on top, 1-0.  The Eagles responded by producing runs in both the second and third inning at-bats, bringing home four runners in each inning to go in front, 8-1.  Kobayashi cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fourth, knocking out his second solo home run of the game, to make it an 8-2 score.  After CMU added a solo homer in the top of the fifth, Senior Leftfielder KJ Hartline (Windsor, Colo.) came back with a solo home run to put the gap at 9-3.  Central Methodist closed the game with two runs in the sixth, then three more runs in the seventh to come away with a 14-3 victory.

Kobayashi led with two hits, two runs scored and two RBI's on his pair of solo homers.  Hartline added one hit, one run and one RBI with his solo home run. 

Missouri Valley drops to 14-24 overall and 3-19 in the Heart.  Central Methodist improves to 32-7 on the season and 18-4 in the conference.

Up next, the two teams will finish their series with a Sunday afternoon doubleheader at Indian Foothills Park, beginning at 1 p.m.

Game 1 Box Score-Click Here

Game 2 Box Score-Click Here

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.