Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the Columbia College men's baseball team was back in action as they hosted the Missouri Baptist University Spartans in an AMC doubleheader. There was a total of 45 runs scored in this three game series matchup. Columbia dropped the first game 17-4, but came back to win the final game 13-7. The Cougars are now 15-10 on the season and 10-6 in conference play. 
 
In game one, the Spartans were first to get on the board as they scored five runs in the first, and then added four more in the second. Missouri Baptist's momentum continued in the fourth as they added three more runs to extend their lead 12-0. The Cougars bats finally came alive in the fourth as they responded with three runs, including a solo homerun by Kenny Piper and a two-run homerun by Justin Randle. The Spartans tallied up another five runs in the sixth to make it a 17-3 game to hand the Cougars the loss.
 
Grant Starke (3-1) was the starting pitcher for the Cougars and was relieved by Josiah Imhoff (2-0), Roy Moore (1-1), and Devon Still (0-1) after an inning of play for a combined four earned runs. Reid Browning (1-0) was also on the mound for the Cougars as he allowed just three earned runs while striking out two batters in four innings of work. Andrew Baker came in to pitch during the sixth as he did not allow any earned runs and struck out a batter in 1.1 innings. Offensively, the Cougars were led by Justin Randle who had a hit while scoring a run and had two RBI, and Kenny Piper who had a hit while scoring a run and had one RBI.
 
In game two, the Cougars got on the board after Chase Urhahn hit to center to drive two runners in. Kenny Piper followed that with a double hit to left to bring another runner in to extend the Cougars lead 3-0. Columbia College added another run in the fourth, but the Spartans were able to respond with four runs in the fifth to tie the game at four. Urhahn hit a bomb in the fifth for a two-run homerun followed by another run scored to take the lead back 7-4. A three-run homerun by Jady Reese, his first of the season, then made it a 10-4 game in the Cougars favor. Missouri Baptist responded with their own three-run homerun to bring themselves back in the game, 10-7. Columbia College kept it going by adding three runs in the sixth, including a solo homerun by Ethan Howser. The Spartans made one last attempt to get back in the game, but the Cougars closed them out in the last few innings to win the game 13-7.
 
Jacob Ford (2-3) started on the mound for the Cougars as he did not allow any earned runs and struck out a batter in 4.2 innings of work. Jordan Copeland relieved Ford in the fifth as he allowed just one earned run while striking out two batters in an inning of play. Derek Sallee (1-1) also pitched for the Cougars as he did not allow any runs in the final 3.1 innings of the game. Offensively, the Cougars were led by Chase Urhahn who had three hits while scoring three runs and had four RBI, Jady Reese who had a hit while scoring a run and had three RBI, and Kenny Piper who had three hits, a run scored, and one RBI to round out the top performers.
 
The baseball team is back in action Friday, March 29^th as they travel to Fulton, Missouri for a three game AMC series with the William Woods University Owls. The game is set to start at 6 p.m.