Pioneers Fall to Missouri Baptist to Close Season

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. – MNU's season came to a close with a 7-2 loss to 1-seed Missouri Baptist in the Williamsburg Bracket on Wednesday. The Spartans jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a solo homer in the top of the 2nd, and the game got away from the Pioneers in the 3rd. With 2 outs and 1 on, a double made it 2-0, and three straight walks added another run and loaded the bases. After a pitching change, a grand slam blew it open, and MNU was in a big hole.

Freshman Preston Graber took the mound in the 4th, and MBU was held scoreless the rest of the way. But the Pioneer offense was silent until a Brysen Hamilton double in the bottom of the 6th. Drew Woodley's RBI groundout made it 7-1, and a Kaden Owens solo homer in the 7th made it a 5-run deficit. The Pioneers couldn't mount a comeback, and 7-2 was the final.

Turning Point
MBU's huge 3rd inning was too much to overcome.

Individual Leaders
Preston Graber struck out 6 in 6 innings of 2-hit relief. And Kaden Owens (2-3, R, HR, RBI, BB) and Brysen Hamilton (1-3, 2B) had MNU's 3 hits.

Notes
Drew Woodley's career came to an end after 4 strong seasons, and his name is all over the MNU career leaderboards:
200 Runs Scored (2nd)
244 Hits (2nd)
59 Doubles (2nd)
28 Home Runs (T-6th)
131 RBIs (7th)
85 Walks (3rd)
58 HBPs (1st)
1.007 OPS (7th)

- Kaden Owens and Sean Maple became the 5th and 6th Pioneers to record 20 doubles in a season
- Kaden Owens' 15 single season homers is tied for 5th
- Kaden Owens' 69 single season RBIs ranks 4th
- Brentt Olmo (36) and Riggs Harper (32) became the 9th and 10th Pioneers to record 30 walks
- Reece Helland became the all-time MNU saves leader (16) with his 6th of the season (T-3rd)
- Luis Lopez recorded 91 strikeouts, good for the 6th best MNU single season

Up Next
The next game is the 2026 opener.