Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  | Season Stats | Photos

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The 21st-ranked Central Missouri Mules swept an MIAA doubleheader from Missouri Western and in doing so, clinched at least a share of the MIAA regular season championship. It is the fourth conference crown under head coach Tom Myers and the 24th in school history.

The Mules (32-13, 29-7 MIAA) jumped out to a 5-0 lead in game one with three runs in the second and two more in the third. Trevor Jones had an RBI single to get things started and Jake Alexander followed that up with another run-scoring single. Brad Wilson's RBI double capped the second inning scoring. In the third, Seth Wheeler scored on a throwing error and Jones added another RBI single.

The Griffons (24-17, 20-14 MIAA) plated two runs in the fourth on Hunter Weiss' RBI triple and Mitch Thorman's run-scoring single. UCM came back with three runs in the fifth to push the lead to 8-2. Tony Sandifer had a two-run triple to left center and later scored on a wild pitch.

The Mules blew the game open in the sixth with a seven-run inning to make it 15-2. Hunter Johnson's three-run home run was the big blow in the inning and capped the scoring.

Kurtis Schuyler (6-2) earned the win with a complete-game effort. He allowed two runs on five hits in the process. Jake Jones (5-3) took the loss for the Griffons after surrendering six runs on 12 hits in 4.1 innings pitched.

Game two started off just as game one ended for Central Missouri. The Mules batted around in the first and scored nine runs to open a big lead right out of the gate. The big blow was Kevin Gratza's three-run double.

The Griffons plated three of their own in the second to get on the board, but Johnson hit his second home run of the day in the bottom of the inning to make it 10-3. 

After Missouri Western put up two runs in the top of the third, UCM came back with three of their own in the bottom of the frame to extend the lead to 13-5. Matt Molbury had an RBI single and Johnson added a two-run single in the inning.

Gratza's RBI single in the fourth gave Central Missouri a 14-5 lead. The Griffons plated two runs in the sixth to pull within 14-7, but Seth Wheeler had an RBI single in the eighth to give UCM the 15-7 advantage.

Blake Kolons (1-0) picked up the win tossing 2.2 innings of relief and giving up just two unearned runs. Zach Davis recorded the final nine outs of the game to earn his ninth save of the season and 16th of his career. His nine saves this season are the fifth most in a single-season in UCM history and his 16 career saves rank third all-time in Mules Baseball history.

Every Mule who played in the doubleheader recorded a hit. Wheeler finished the day 5-for-5. Wilson had six hits on the day as did Johnson, who also finished with seven RBI. Gratza drove in six runs as well.

The Mules pounded out 41 hits in the doubleheader and scored 30 runs to earn the sweep.

UCM wraps up the regular season next weekend at Central Oklahoma with a four-game series beginning on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The Mules need just one win in the series to claim the MIAA regular season championship outright.