Late Offense Leads Wildcats to Home-Opening Sweep of Mustangs

BALDWIN CITY - Playing for the first time at Sauder Field, the Baker baseball team broke through late in both games, turning two tight non-conference battles into a doubleheader sweep of Morningside with 4-1 and 8-4 victories on Thursday afternoon in the Wildcats' home opener.

Each game was either tied or separated by a single run deep into the action before the Wildcats created breathing room in the later innings. The opener remained a 2-1 contest through five before the Wildcats added two insurance runs in the sixth, while game two was knotted at 4-4 until a four-run fifth inning broke it open.

In the first game of the day, Morningside struck first with a solo home run in the second inning, but Baker responded immediately in the bottom half. After Tyson Kiser worked a walk and Blake Prewitt reached, Zach Miller delivered a two-out single to right field that plated two runs and gave the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage.

Despite the blip on the radar in the second, BU starting pitcher Camden Karlin posted an excellent six innings of work, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out six and walking one in an efficient 83-pitch outing. After the second inning, Karlin allowed just three singles and did not permit a runner past first base.

Baker threatened in the fourth and fifth but left runners aboard, keeping the margin at one entering the sixth. The Wildcats finally stretched the lead in that frame when pinch-hitter Brayden Walker singled and stole second before Karlin helped his own cause. The senior launched a two-run home run to left field, extending the lead to 4-1.

Gage Callaghan closed the door in the seventh, retiring all three batters he faced and striking out one to earn his second save of the season.

Karlin finished 2-for-3 with two RBI at the plate to go along with his six-inning effort. Miller also drove in two runs, and Tyson Wallace added two hits as BU tallied eight total in the contest.

In game two, Morningside jumped ahead 2-0 in the first, but Baker answered immediately with back-to-back home runs. Karlin homered down the left-field line to put the Wildcats on the board before Wallace followed with a two-run shot to left, giving Baker a 3-2 lead.

The Wildcats extended the lead to 4-2 in the third on an RBI single from Wallace, but the Mustangs countered with a two-run homer in the fourth to even the score at 4-4.

The tie held until the bottom of the fifth, when back-to-back free passes and a bunt single by Jackson Truman gave the Wildcats bases loaded with nobody out. Eventually, TJ Armstrong was able to draw a bases-loaded walk to bring home the go-ahead run, and Kiser followed with a two-run single to make it 7-4.

Walker capped the inning with an RBI single of his own as Baker pushed across four runs to take control late once again.

Anthony Sillas, a first-year transfer from College of the Desert, earned his first career win as a Wildcat with three scoreless innings of relief. After coming on for starter Tyler Vigna in the fifth, Sillas allowed just two hits, worked around two walks, and kept Morningside off the scoreboard over the final three frames.

Wallace finished 2-for-4 with three RBI in the nightcap, while Karlin added two hits and homered for the second consecutive game. The long ball marked Karlin's third of the season, and Wallace's blast was his second of the year.

Carrying a three-game winning streak, Baker will return to action next week, hosting a four-game series against Viterbo on Feb. 27-28, at Sauder Field.

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