Baker Baseball Splits Home Non-Con Matchup with Yellowjackets

BALDWIN CITY - Coming in with six wins in its last seven games, the Baker baseball team came away with a split in its non-conference doubleheader against Graceland on Thursday at Sauder Field.

The Wildcats posted their third shutout of the season to take the series opener, 4-0, before the Yellowjackets broke up a 4-4 tie late in Game 2 to force the split in an 11-4 nightcap.

Camden Karlin turned in a brilliant outing in the first game, earning his first shutout of the spring after keeping the Yellowjackets at bay with just five hits struck against him. He tallied seven strikeouts - his most since the season opener - to move to 3-0 on the year.

Jon Jenkins homered for the third straight game, sending a three-run shot over the fence to spot the Wildcats a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Karlin opened up the inning with a leadoff walk, while TJ Armstrong also reached via a walk a little bit later to set the stage for Jenkins' bomb.

With Karlin dealing on the bump, Baker tacked on one final run in the bottom of the sixth after loading the bases with nobody out. The Yellowjackets were able to turn a double play to spoil the potential big inning, but a wild pitch allowed pinch-runner Jayden Ford to sprint home to cap the 4-0 victory.

Karlin allowed just one baserunner through the first three innings and the only trouble he ran into was in the top of the sixth. Graceland hit back-to-back singles to put a couple of runners on, but the senior from Lawrence, Kan., got a fly ball to center and a groundout to preserve the shutout.

After the pitching battle in Game 1, both offenses picked up right away in the second game of the doubleheader. Graceland plated two in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead before the Wildcats one-upped them with three runs in the bottom-half.

Karlin drew a leadoff walk to bring on pinch-runner Cameron Selbach, who came across for BU's first run on an RBI single to left field from Tyson Wallace. TJ Armstrong followed by tagging his first home run of the season to push Baker in front, 3-2.

The Wildcats strung together a couple more hits in the bottom of the second and extended their lead on a sac fly from Karlin. Cade Adams singled up the middle and Zach Miller worked a one-out walk before both runners moved into scoring position on a failed pickoff attempt from the Yellowjackets pitcher. Karlin's fly ball shaded to right center allowed Adams enough time to score from third to make it a 4-2 lead for BU.

Graceland capitalized on some command issues from the Wildcats in the top of the third, bringing home the game-tying runs on a bases-loaded walk and a hit-by-pitch.

The game settled a bit over the middle innings with neither side scratching a hit in the fourth or fifth innings.

The Yellowjackets led off the top of the sixth with a solo home run to break up the 4-4 deadlock before going on to add four more runs in the frame to shoot their lead all the way out to 9-4. They plated a couple more runs in the seventh to finish off an 11-4 ballgame and force the series split between the two Heart of America Conference teams.

Armstrong registered his third multi-hit performance of the last five games after going 2-for-3 in Game 2. The junior transfer from Bellevue College went 4-for-6 across two games of the Viterbo series last week.

With the split, the Wildcats move to 8-4 overall on the season and have won six of their eight matchups at Sauder Field this year, including five straight victories to open up the home slate.

Baker will continue its busy early-season home stretch by hosting a set of doubleheaders this weekend. BU will take on #21 Doane on Saturday, March 7, at 1:30 p.m. before kicking off conference play with a matchup against Culver-Stockton on Sunday, March 8, starting at Noon in Baldwin City.

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