Comeback Falls Short in Non-Conference Game vs. St. Mary, 9-8

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Despite Jared Parenti coming just shy of hitting for the cycle, the Baker baseball team could not come from behind to defeat St. Mary on Wednesday evening as they dropped the non-conference matchup, 9-8.

Parenti was able to go 3-for-5 in the game, picking up a double, a triple and a home run, just missing a single to hit for the cycle. Parenti was not the only Wildcat with three hits in the game as Eli Young went 3-for-4. Both Tucker Flory and Javier Aguirre each also picked up two hits in the game as those four combined for 10 of the team's 13 hits.

Baker pitched three pitchers throughout the game including Brock Burling, Jake Miller and Jake Jarrell. Jarell was able to pitch five innings and did not give up a single run, while striking out two batters.

Through the first inning and a half, the Spires had jumped out to a commanding 6-0 lead. After a single from Aguirre in the bottom of the second got Baker on the board, Eli Young crushed a home run over the scoreboard in left field and cut the lead to 6-3 after just two innings.

Again, in the fourth, St. Mary added to their lead as they scored three runs to make it 9-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Jared Parenti quickly cut into the lead, hitting a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth but the scoring was not done there.

A Jon Jenkins double and a Tanner Twillman single brought the lead even closer as Baker trailed by just three once again, this time by a score of 9-6. Baker was able to get one run in the bottom of the fifth on an error but stalled their and trailed by two with four innings to play.

A Jared Parenti two-out triple in the bottom of the seventh brought the lead to within one, but Baker could not scratch across another run as they fell to the Spires, 9-8.

The Baker baseball team will continue conference play on Friday, April 14, when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa to take on Grand View beginning at 2 p.m.

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