Box Score
Joplin, Mo. – This afternoon the Columbia College baseball team was back in action when they took on the Missouri Baptist University Spartans in the 2018 AMC Baseball Championships. The Cougars, who defeated the Central Baptist (Ark.) College Mustangs on Thursday to keep their season alive, were unable to defeat the Spartans as they fell by a final score of 5-3 to end the season with a 33-16 record.
Columbia College put together a nine hit game in the 5-3 loss. Neither side was able to get anything going early in the contest as both starting pitchers were dealing through the first few innings. The Spartans were able to get on the board first after bringing a run around to score in the top of the fourth but their lead did not last long as the Cougars answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at one. Columbia College continued to put the ball in play and were able to take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth following an RBI single from Alex Del Rio to give the Cougar a 2-1 lead. However, the Spartans answered with a four run rally in the top of the sixth to take a 5-2 lead in the game. The Cougars did their best to get back into the game and were able to score a run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 5-3 but that was as close as they would get as the Spartans picked up the final outs to eliminate Columbia from the 2018 AMC Baseball Championships.
Jeremy Rettig (3-2) was on the mound for the Cougars in this one as he allowed four hits and three earned runs while striking out two in 5.1 innings of work. Derek Sallee (5-3), Craig Smith (3-4), and Cody Ebert (5-3) came in to relieve Rettig as the three combined to allow three hits and two earned runs while striking out one batter in the final 3.2 innings of the game. Offensively, Alex Del Rio went 3-5 with two RBI's, Blade McKee went 2-5 with two runs scored, and Bradley Prebay went 1-3 with an RBI to round out the top performers for Columbia.
With the loss today, the Columbia College baseball team has been eliminated from the 2018 AMC Baseball Championships. This marks the end of the 2018 season as the Cougars finished the year with a 33-16 record and 18-11 mark in conference play. The team will resume play next spring.
