The baseball team split the first half of a four-game series with Park University Saturday, capping off game two with a Marcus Jones walk-off single to give the Wildcats a 3-7 record.

The opening game of the doubleheader started quickly for both teams, with the Pirates racking up three runs in the first inning, and the Wildcats striking back with a run in the first and two in the second to reach a 3-3 tie heading into the third inning. That’s when Park started to pull away, as the first three Pirate batters reached base and Tim Schaareman scored from second off of a Baker error. Two batters later, Shane Boyer scored on a passed ball, then Rafael Torres-Castillo scored on a Jacob Watt single to put the Pirates up 6-3.

Senior Seth Jones had an up-and-down game on the mound, giving up two three-run innings but throwing two perfect innings and allowing just one hit in the fifth. He finished the game with five innings pitched and six runs, five earned.

After cutting the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth on Jamaal Rashad’s pinch-running efforts, the Pirates went on another offensive barrage, scoring four runs in the sixth to stretch the lead to 10-4. The Wildcats last-ditch effort in the seventh fell short after runs by seniors Travis Johnson and Cort Brennan.

Senior Charles Coleman led the Wildcats’ offensive effort in game one, going 3-4 with two RBIs. He led all Baker batters with five hits on the day. Other offensive highlights for Baker included senior Gabe Greenbaum’s four RBIs, Coleman’s three stolen bases, and senior Austin Bass’ triple in game two.

Game one marked the Wildcats sixth straight loss and dropped them to 2-7 on the season.

The Wildcats had a hot start in game two, scoring the first three runs of the game in the second inning. Bass’ leadoff triple led to him scoring on a Jones double. Sophomore Sean Beal then singled in a run, and Greenbaum grounded out but advanced Beal to home.

The Pirates cut the Wildcats’ lead to 3-2 after a strong third inning, but BU answered with a run of its own to take a 4-2 lead after three innings.

Park scored three runs over the next two innings to take a 5-4 lead, including two runs in the fifth inning after starter Justin Bye was taken out of the game, but Baker was able to tie it up at 5-5 when Greenbaum singled in Beal for his second run of the game.

Jones sealed the game on a bases-loaded single that brought home junior Tyler Cawley, improving the Wildcats’ record to 3-7 and dropping Park’s record to 9-5.

The Wildcats will take on the Pirates again Tuesday, this time in Parkville, Missouri, starting at noon.