Missouri Valley Vikings baseball dropped a non-conference contest Tuesday, March 18, falling 18-5 to the Columbia Cougars in Columbia.

The Cougars struck first, capitalizing on a Vikings error to score the first run of the game, an RBI single to right field by Tyler Renn. Missouri Valley responded in the top of the second with a two-run blast from Brandon Walker to give the Vikings their only lead of the contest. It was a short-lived lead, as the Cougars scored six runs off four hits and an error in the bottom half of the frame. The Vikings added a pair of runs in the third off a Mason Mitchell RBI single and a fielder’s choice delivered by Sota Suzuki. The Cougars claimed one run back in the bottom of the third, then piled on the Vikings with ten runs off nine hits in the fourth. The Vikings’ final run came in the seventh when Brennan Nickerson delivered an RBI single to center.

The Vikings fall to 8-12, while Columbia improve to 18-5. Missouri Valley will host William Penn for a four-game conference series. Doubleheaders begin at 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday.