#MustangsWin! CBC Goes Two-For-Two On The First Day of The AMC Tournament!

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            O'Fallon, Mo. – Opening play in the American Midwest Conference tournament this afternoon, Central Baptist College baseball played the Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans to open things at CarShield Field and then faced the Cougars of Columbia College later in the day. CBC (36-13) beat HLGU 10-3 and then beat Columbia (36-13) 6-1 to send themselves to the semifinals.

GAME ONE – CBC 10, HLGU 3

            The Mustangs' offense exploded in the first inning, plating eight runs to lead 8-0 after one. Jacori Hicks hit the first home run of the inning, his seventh of the season, to make it 3-0 and four batters later, his brother, Jalen, made it 7-0 with a grand slam, his third dinger of the season. Jacori would later come up again, as CBC sent 13 to the plate in the first, and single home is fourth run to make it 8-0. A Jalen Hicks groundout in the second made it 9-0 and it stayed that way until the fourth, when HLGU cut the lead to 9-3. In the fifth, Jacori Hicks joined his brother with his fifth RBI of the game on a double to make it 10-3 and give plenty of support to Jaxon Kirkhuff, who went all nine innings and allowed just five hits and three runs with 6 Ks to earn his fourth win of the season. The Hicks twins combined to go 4-9 with a pair of home runs, a double and all 10 RBIs.

GAME TWO – CBC 6, COLUMBIA 1

            CBC wasted no time getting on the board against Columbia, as Chett McDaniel double home a run in the second to make it 1-0. Luke McBride knocked in the first of his three runs in the game with a single in the fifth, and CBC made it 3-0 later in the inning via an error. McBride's two-run single in the sixth made it 5-0 before Columbia made it 5-1 in the bottom half. Ruben Hernandez would get the run back for CBC in the seventh with a solo blast, his seventh, to make it 6-1 and provide plenty of runs for Gram Middleton, who dominated Columbia to the tune of five hits and just one run over eight innings with three Ks. Austin LeJeune allowed a hit in the ninth but got the last three outs to secure the win.

MUSTANG NOTES

• The Mustangs are now 2-2 all-time against Columbia in the AMC tournament and 3-1 on games played on April 30
• CBC has 522 hits on the season, third most in a season ever (540 – 2019, 621 - 2016)
• CBC has scored 418 runs this season, third most ever (2022, 2016)
• CBC reached 100 doubles in a season for the fourth time (2016, 2017, 2021)
• CBC is currently on pace to break the team on base record, currently sitting at .438 (.434 in 2022)
• CBC is second in stolen bases in program history (149)

UP NEXT

            CBC will face Missouri Baptist in the first semifinal winner's bracket game tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. and, if CBC wins, they would move into the AMC Championship game.