Senior Russell McGinnis drove in five runs on three hits during the Vikings' doubleheader sweep of Baker. (Chris Allen/Democrat-New) [Click to enlarge]

On paper, it didn't look like a great match-up for the Missouri Valley College baseball team.

Baker came into Saturday's doubleheader at Osage Field with a .303 team batting average, third in the Heart of America Conference, while the Vikings' cumulative 6.26 earned-run average was near the bottom of the league.

However, Valley can hit, too -- topping the HAAC with 7.1 runs per game -- and finally got the kind of pitching it's sought to take both ends of the twinbill, 7-0 and 13-3. Senior third baseman Kyle Eley, the NAIA's slugging leader (1.061), drove in five runs during the day.

Junior right-hander Andy Jones threw a gem in the opener, allowing only three hits for the Vikings' first shutout of the season. Although the conference's top homer-hitting club didn't go deep, it hit consistently throughout the contest, scoring in five of its six at-bats.

A double by senior Richard Knutz set up the first of Valley's two first-inning runs, the second coming in on senior Russell McGinnis' single. Eley doubled in a run in the second and junior Tim Embree was hit by a pitch, stole a base and scored on a grounder in the third.

Junior Justin Stone and Knutz singled and a walk to Eley loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but the Vikings couldn't get another hit and were limited to two runs.

Eley singled and swiped second, coming in on junior Kevin Challoner, for Valley's final tally in the sixth.

The Vikings had to scrape for runs in the first game, but began the nightcap with a pair of four-run rallies. Knutz had a ground-rule double, McGinnis followed with an RBI single and two more runs came in on junior Steven Montijo's single in the bottom of the first.

Free passes to junior José Molina and Knutz and a Stone single packed the sacks to start the second. Challoner doubled in two runs and McGinnis brought in a pair more with a single.

The Wildcats (5-9, 2-6 HAAC) narrowed the deficit to 8-3 when junior Christopher Moody smacked a two-run homer in the top of the fifth, but Valley answered with five runs in its half of the frame -- Eley smashing a three-run shot, his 10th of the season, and Challoner following with a solo blast for an early end to the game.

The top four in the Vikings' batting order hit a combined 14 for 24, with 15 runs scored and 10 driven in, during the day.

Valley (11-15, 5-5) has a big week ahead, hosting MidAmerica Nazarene on Tuesday and then going to Springfield for a four-game series against East Division rival Evangel -- with a chance to climb from its current fifth-place position in the league standings.