When the St. Joseph Mustangs needed some order restored, Ben Baker answered the call.

The Mustangs’ designated hitter, called on as a relief pitcher, hurled 4 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday night in an 9-3 MINK League victory over the Sedalia Bombers.

Baker, moved to the mound after starting pitcher Ethan Barnett gave up three runs to tie the game in the fourth, faced only one more than the minimum over the span, allowing only a pair of singles and a walk. He benefited from a double play and a pickoff in the eighth, and Billy Gura came on to pitch a scoreless ninth.

The move to the mound was a surprise to Baker, who had started, relieved and closed for Rockhurst this spring.

“As long as I get in, I’m happy,” said Baker, who got T.S. Reed on a groundout to get the Mustangs out of the fourth.

Baker struck out two in the outing and worked ahead in the count most of the night.

“We’ve been trying to get him into a ball game, and we’re just trying to figure out his role,” manager Matt Johnson said. “He did a great job of filling those innings for us. He was constantly in the strike zone, hammering the slider on the outside half. He really picked up Ethan in that inning.”

Baker said he didn’t use his full arsenal of pitches in dispatching the Bombers (1-4, 0-3 MINK).

“I didn’t even need my changeup,” Baker said. “I kept them off balance with my curve ball.”

Brent Seifert made a winner of Baker (2-0) with the go-ahead RBI double to right-center in the fourth that scored Ryan Hook, who led off the frame with his second single of the night.

Seifert drove in three runs in all in a 2-for-3 performance, adding a bases-loaded walk in the seventh and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Control problems in the fourth were Barnett’s undoing. After allowing a leadoff single to Jose Behar, he brought the Bombers catcher home on three wild pitches, loading the bases on a pair of walks before Jon Obbenga tied it up at 3 with a two-run double to left field.

The Mustangs had jumped on Sedalia starter and losing pitcher Zach Hardoin early, opening the game with singles by Sam Lind and Rob Lind, followed by a two-run double by Troy Landi and a sacrifice fly by Greg Noble.

The Mustangs scored single runs in the sixth and seventh and broke it open with three runs in the eighth.

That helped St. Joseph (8-2, 5-2 MINK League) keep its home record perfect going into tonight’s 7 p.m. game against the Beatrice Bruins.