Heart Baseball Conference Tournament: Day One Recap

OZARK, Mo. – Two upsets highlighted day one of the 2026 Heart of America Baseball Conference Tournament as Missouri Baptist, William Woods, MidAmerica Nazarene, and Central Methodist advance in the winner's bracket.

No. 1 Missouri Baptist Defeats No. 8 Peru State, 5-0

A three-run first inning helped the No. 1 Spartans to a 5-0 victory over No. 8 Peru State on Thursday in the first game of the Heart of America Conference Tournament.

Missouri Baptist's Teague Robertson threw a complete game shutout for the Spartans and only allowed three hits while striking out nine batters. Casey Ogden got the start on the hill for Peru State and threw seven innings before Adam Korte entered the game for the final inning of work.

It didn't take long for Missouri Baptist to get things rolling, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a triple from Jayden Orozco and RBI singles from Nick Beech and Griffin Brown.

After a scoreless second inning, Orozco scored his second run of the game in the bottom of the third on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 4-0. Orozco continued to contribute to the offense in the bottom of the seventh hitting a sac-fly to score Carlos Hidalgo and give Missouri Baptist a 5-0 lead which would hold for the remainder of the game.

No. 1 Missouri Baptist advances to the second round of the winner's bracket and will take on No. 5 MidAmerica Nazarene at 5:00 p.m., on Friday, May 1. No. 8 Peru State will move into the consolation bracket and will take on No. 4 Clarke at 10:00 a.m., on Friday, May 1.

No. 5 MidAmerica Nazarene Defeats No. 4 Clarke, 15-5 (7 Inn.)

Scoring at least two runs in five of the seven innings, No. 5 MidAmerica Nazarene run-ruled No. 4 Clarke on Thursday in the first round of the Heart of America Conference Tournament.

Preston Graber got the start for MNU and threw two innings before Axel De Jesus pitched the final five innings and allowed just two hits to earn the win. Clarke threw five different pitchers in the game with Travis Gibson throwing the most innings with 4.2 innings.

Ryan Martinez of MidAmerica had a stellar day at the plate, going 4-for-5, while both Ronnie Rowley and Carter Manning picked up three hits each. With 15 RBI as a team for MNU, both Christian Ramos and Jeremy Morales had three RBI each, while Rowley, Kaden Owens, Martinez and Carter Manning each had two RBI.

The Pioneers came out on fire, scoring five runs on five hits in the top of the first inning, scoring all five runs on singles from Owens, Martinez, Manning and Morales. Clarke came back with one run of their own in the bottom of the first on a wild pitch but trailed MNU, 5-1 after one inning.

A two-run double from Ramos in the top of the second pushed the lead to 7-1, but Clarke fired back with four runs in the bottom half of the third to cut the lead to just two, 7-5.

The scoring was all MNU the rest of the way, highlighted by doubles from Morales and Ramos as the Pioneers went on to win the game, 15-5 in seven innings.

No. 5 MidAmerica will advance in the winner's bracket to take on No. 1 Missouri Baptist at 5:00 p.m., on Friday, May 1. No. 4 Clarke will move into the consolation bracket and will take on No. 8 Peru State at 10:00 a.m., on Friday, May 1.

No. 3 William Woods Defeats No. 6 Grand View, 6-3

No. 3 William Woods came away with a 6-3 win over No. 6 Grand View on Thursday in the first round of the Heart of America Conference Tournament.

AJ Vasquez pitched 6.2 innings and allowed just one earned run on eight hits, before Keith Piepmeier threw the final 2.1 innings to earn the save. Devin Doyle was on the hill for Grand View and pitched six innings before Kye Kruse and Pierce Anderson combined for the final two innings.

With runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the first, Colby Caton doubled to right-center and scored two runs to give the Owls an early 2-0 lead. After a single through the left side by Grand View's Roderick Tanamor scored a run in the top of the third to cut the lead in half, William Woods responded in the bottom half with a Kaden Kinsler two-run home run to push the lead to 4-1.

Grand View got the bases loaded in the top of the sixth with no outs. Bryce Stalder singled to score a run, but although a double play scored a run, it slowed momentum for the Vikings and ended the threat with the Vikings trailing by one, 4-3.

It was in the bottom half of the sixth that the Owls put the game away as Sam Russo and Camron Casso each drove in runs on singles to extend the lead to 6-3, which would hold for the rest of the game.

No. 3 William Woods will advance to the second round of the winner's bracket and will take on No. 7 Central Methodist at 8:30 p.m., on Friday, May 1. No. 6 Grand View will move into the consolation bracket and will face off with No. No. 2 Mount Mercy at 1:30 p.m., on Friday, May 1.

No. 7 Central Methodist Defeats No. 2 Mount Mercy, 6-5

Closing out day one of the Heart of America Conference Tournament, No. 7 Central Methodist came away with a big upset win over No. 2 Mount Mercy, defeating the Mustangs, 6-5.

Westin Walls got the game one start for the Eagles, throwing six innings and earning the win before Nicholas Neighbours pitched the final three innings and earned his fifth save of the season. Tyler Nagelbach took the hill for the Mustangs and threw 4.2 innings. Matt Kelliher finished the fifth inning before Alex Neal pitched the final four innings for Mount Mercy.

Both teams had 11 hits in the game with Gavin Whitehurst and Joshua Smith having three hits each for CMU, while Drew Terpins of Mount Mercy also had a three-hit day.

Mount Mercy was able to break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning as Terpins scored on a wild pitch, but in the very next half inning, Jordan Vazquez and Ryan Malzahn each drove in a run on singles to give Central Methodist a 2-1 lead.

The Eagles added two more runs in the fourth inning on a double from Dawson Foster, followed by another RBI single from Vazquez, making it 4-1 Eagles.

After Mount Mercy scored one in the fourth to make it 4-2, Zeb Wede hit a two-run home run to left field to give the Eagles some much needed insurance runs, 6-2. Mount Mercy would score three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Eagles would shut the door as CMU went on to upset Mount Mercy, 6-5.

No. 7 Central Methodist advances to the second round of the winner's bracket and will take on No. 3 William Woods at 8:30 p.m., on Friday, May 1. No. 2 Mount Mercy will move into the consolation bracket and will face off with No. 6 Grand View at 1:30 p.m., on Friday, May 1.