(LEBANON, Ill., April 28)--Missouri Baptist University earned its second consecutive American Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament championship with a 10-7 come-from-behind victory Friday over McKendree University in the title contest.

The top-seeded Spartans trailed 6-1 in the fourth inning but posted nine unanswered runs to complete an undefeated run in tournament play. Missouri Baptist moves to 37-14 overall, while McKendree slips to 30-24 on the year. Both the Spartans and Bearcats have earned bids to next week's NAIA Region V Tournament. The six-team, double-elimination event is scheduled to begin Wednesday on the campus of Lindenwood University.

In Friday's championship game, the teams were tied 1-1 before McKendree scored three runs in the third inning and two more in the fourth to grab a 6-1 lead. Missouri Baptist began its comeback with four runs in the fifth inning to pull within 6-5. In the seventh inning, Scott Schneider belted a two-run home run to give the Spartans the lead for good at 7-6. Missouri Baptist tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning to boost its margin to 10-6.

McKendree scored a run in the top of the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate with one out. However, the Spartans' Clayton Dill retired the final two Bearcat hitters to lock up the tournament championship.

Below are the complete results for the 2008 AMC Baseball Tournament. For a PDF copy of the tournament bracket, please click here. Missouri Baptist is also hosting a website devoted to the event, and can be found by clicking here.

2008 AMERICAN MIDWEST CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
GAMES FOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
Game 1: #1 Missouri Baptist University def. #4 Harris-Stowe State University, 6-0     BOX SCORE
(MBU's Brandon Patek delivers double, home run and four RBI to back the complete-game five-hitter tossed by Aaron Byington)
Game 2: #3 William Woods University def. #2 McKendree University, 4-2     BOX SCORE
(Owls turn four double plays and get late-inning RBI singles from Kyle Christiansen and Craig Moffett to hold off Bearcats)

GAMES FOR THURSDAY, MAY 1
Game 3: McKendree def. Harris-Stowe, 6-2 (Harris-Stowe eliminated)     BOX SCORE
(Todd Harpstrite's grand slam caps six-run rally in eighth inning for the Bearcats; Rusty Parke allows five hits in complete-game victory)

Game 4: Missouri Baptist def. William Woods, 8-0     BOX SCORE
(Matt Murray's six-hitter backed by 13-hit offensive attack by Missouri Baptist; Francisco Vega notches four hits and Riley Gavello adds three-run triple for the Spartans)

Game 5: McKendree def. William Woods, 10-2 (William Woods eliminated)     BOX SCORE
(Eighth inning lucky again for McKendree as Bearcats erupt for seven runs in the frame; Cale Johnson retires 18 batters in a row at one point during five-hit effort)

GAMES FOR FRIDAY, MAY 2 (Championship Friday)
Game 6: Missouri Baptist def. McKendree, 10-7     BOX SCORE
(Spartans overcome early 6-1 deficit to record their second consecutive AMC Tournament championship; Joel Johnson notches four hits with three runs scored for MBU)