The Omnibus

Issue date: 5/6/04 Section: Sports

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Southwest Baptist University's baseball team ended their season this week with a couple of stellar wins and three tough losses.

Media Credit: Mandy Waller Freshman infielder Spencer Wilkins prepares to round second base during a recent home game.

On Friday April 30, SBU split a doubleheader with nationally-ranked Emporia State (33-17, 18-11 MIAA). In game one with ESU, the 30th-ranked team in NCAA Division II, junior Dustin Childress broke the SBU all-time record for innings pitched in a season with 86.1 and tied the school record for wins in a season with nine. Freshman Skyler Powers went 3-3 with three runs batted in to lead the Bearcats to a 8-3 victory.

Game two did not go as well as SBU lost 18-5. A bright spot for the Bearcats was Nathan Dunn's second home run of the season.

SBU then took on Northwest Missouri State in an April 3 doubleheader. SBU hung on to take game one 8-7 when Eric Beal hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 8th inning to score the go-ahead and eventual winning run.

The game saw home runs from junior outfielder Jason Hines, freshman infielder Andrew Gilstrap and Powers. Gilstrap and Powers hit home runs back-to-back in the third inning.

Media Credit: Mandy Waller Senior Justin Loveday congratules fellow senior Nathan Dunn after his home run in game two of the Bearcats doubleheader split with Emporia State Spril 30.

Game two ended in a tough 14-8 loss. SBU cut NWMSU's lead to 9-8 in the fourth inning but then allowed two runs in the fifth inning and three in the sixth.

SBU played NWMSU in their final game of the season on April 4. The game ended in a 16-7 loss in 11 innings. Hines hit two home runs and Childress pitched eight strong innings, but a run in the ninth for NWMSU and a nine-run inning in the 11th gave NWMSU the victory that ended the Bearcat's season.

SBU ended the 2004 season with an 18-34 overall record and a  7-20 MIAA record.

SBU will return most of its starting players next year and will lose only five seniors.

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