Winfield, Kan.— The Spires broke open a one-run game with a four-run top of the eighth Friday morning, and went on to hold off the Southwestern College Moundbuilders for a 9-6 KCAC victory at Broadway Complex in Winfield.

The Spires boldly set the tone early. In the first inning, they used back-to-back base runners and a pair of walks with the bases loaded to score twice. Ian Maldonado added an RBI single in the second after Saul Vazquez-Alvarado stole a base, and Saint Mary stretched the margin to 5-0 in the third, including a Vazquez-Alvarado RBI single that brought home John Caime.

USM led 5-0 through three innings, watched Southwestern climb back within 5-4 by the end of the seventh, then delivered the powerhouse response in the eighth. Freshman Spencer Baehman started the surge with a double, Vazquez-Alvarado and Maldonado each drove in a run, and Sergio Fierro capped the inning with a two-run double that pushed the lead to 9-4.

Southwestern did not fade quietly on their home field. The Moundbuilders scored three times in the sixth and added another run in the seventh to trim the deficit to one. SC answered again in the bottom of the eighth on RBIs from Benz and Perez, but left the tying runs stranded.

Vazquez-Alvarado and Maldonado anchored the offense with three hits apiece. Vazquez-Alvarado drove in two and added a walk and stolen base. Maldonado knocked in two runs as well and Fierro finished with three RBIs on one hit, his biggest swing coming in the eighth. As a team, the Spires collected 11 hits, drew six walks and finished with three doubles.

Moises Soriano earned the win for Saint Mary after working 5.2 innings. He allowed seven hits and one earned run, and struck out two on 80 pitches. Jacob Rehkow closed it out for the save, covering the final 1.2 innings without allowing a hit while walking one. Despite committing seven errors behind the pitching staff, the Spires did enough offensively to secure the well-earned win.

Game two began at 3:00 p.m. and was up and rolling into the 4^th inning this afternoon until Mother Nature would take over with lightning and heavy rainfall. Game two will resume in the 4^th inning tomorrow Saturday, April 4^th with a noon start time to be played at the Broadway Sports Complex with game three to follow shortly after.