The Pioneers clinched a post-season birth on Friday, and they finished out the regular season with a double header sweep at the hands of Baker on Saturday. In game one, Baker jumped all over the Pioneers with 6 runs in both the first and second innings. MNU put 2 on the board in the third, but 3 more runs in the fourth put Baker ahead 15-2 and the game ended via the mercy rule.
Jarid Renzelman (1-2, RBI, BB) and
Josh Greer (1-2, RBI) had the RBIs for MNU.
In game two, righthander
Kevin Liddle allowed single runs in the first two innings, but was able to shut Baker down as the Pioneers came back. In the top of the fourth,
Ben Alison led off with a single and
Jarid Renzelman followed with a walk.
Tim Purdin singled to load the bases, and a wild pitch with an error brought 2 runs home to tie the game. The game remained tied at 2 until the bottom of the sixth when a hit batsman came around to score after a sacrifice bunt and single. The Pioneers could not score in the seventh and Baker completed the sweep.
Ben Alison (1-1, R, 2 BB),
Tim Purdin (1-2), and
AJ Nunley (1-2) had MNU's 3 hits.
The Pioneers finish the regular season with a record of 22-22 (15-13 HAAC). The next game will be at the conference tournament at Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph, Missouri on May 5.
