Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 EMPORIA, Kan. -- The sixth-ranked Mules rode their starting pitching to a doubleheader sweep of Emporia State on Saturday afternoon at Glennen Field in Emporia, Kan., and in the process clinched the MIAA Regular Season Championship. The Mules took the opener 6-0 and completed the sweep with a 4-1 win in the nightcap.

The Mules (37-7, 30-4 MIAA) plated three runs in the second to grab the early lead. Gabe Thibodeau had an RBI single to get UCM on the board and Bret Schwartz drove in two with a single to left to make it 3-0.

Central Missouri added another three run inning in the sixth to make it 6-0. Schwartz had a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 and Jordan Coons finished off the scoring with a two-run single down the right field line.

The six runs were more than enough for starter Kurtis Schuyler (7-2). He tossed a complete-game seven-hitter with no walks and three strikeouts. No ESU runners advanced past second base in the game as Schuyler recorded his seventh win of the year.

Brandon Faulkner (7-2) took the loss for Emporia State (25-18, 19-15 MIAA) after allowing six runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings.

John Oropeza was 4-for-4 in the game, while Chase Graskewicz went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.

Emporia State took a 1-0 lead the third inning of game two on an Eric Dawson RBI single. The Mules tied it in the fifth when Graskewicz brought home Albert Selanders with a sacrifice squeeze bunt.

UCM went in front for good in the seventh with three two-out runs. Graskewicz had an RBI single to right to put the Mules in front and Jon Cotter had a two-run single up the middle to give UCM some breathing room.

Lee Stoppelman (7-0) continued his solid pitching with a complete-game effort to get win No. 7 on the season. He scattered six hits and allowed one unearned run while striking out seven.

Derek Brooks (6-2) took the loss for Emporia State after giving up four runs on five hits in seven innings.

Ben Cox had three hits in the game, while Cotter and Graskewicz each drove in a pair of runs.

The doubleheader sweep, coupled with a Missouri Western loss to Southwest Baptist, gives the Mules the outright MIAA regular season championship. It is the third straight conference title for Central Missouri under head coach Tom Myers and the 23rd league championship in school history.