O'Fallon, Mo. – The Columbia College Cougars fell 11-1 to the Missouri Baptist Spartans in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament on Thursday at CarShield Stadium. 

Missouri Baptist's Chris Sabol dominated on the mound, pitching a complete game with one run allowed on three hits and eight strikeouts. Columbia's lone run came in the sixth when Jack Dunn doubled and scored on a single by Tyler Renn, who drove in the team's only RBI. Dunn finished 1-for-2 with a double and a run, while Renn went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Jack Matousek added a 1-for-2 performance, including a single and a walk.

The Cougars' pitching staff, led by starter Layne Rutherford (3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R), Grant Burson (1.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R), and Noah Willingham (0.2 IP, 0 H), faced a potent Spartan offense that racked up 12 hits, including four home runs. Missouri Baptist surged with four runs in the second, three in the fourth, and two each in the fifth and sixth, led by Dominic Palma (3-for-4, HR, 3 R, RBI) and Carlos Hidalgo (2 HRs, 4 RBI).

Columbia's defense held strong, with Jaden James recording six assists at third base and Brayden McGinnis securing eight putouts at first. The Cougars committed one error and stranded four runners, while going 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Columbia will take on the #3-seeded Patriots of Mission University tomorrow at 12:00PM in a must-win situation. With a Cougar win, the team will take on top-seeded Missouri Baptist in the championship game, where Columbia would need to beat MBU twice to claim the tournament title.