Box Score | Season Stats | Photo Gallery
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Derek Cornell drove in five runs and the Mules scored 10 runs on 12 hits en route to a 10-5 win over Nebraska-Kearney at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field on Thursday in the opening game of their best-of-three MIAA Tournament first round series.
The Lopers (29-20) took an early 1-0 lead on Dillon Schroeder's solo home run in the top of the first, but the Mules (29-20) answered with a Cornell sacrifice fly to tie the game in the bottom half.
Shane Sharkey's RBI double in the third put UNK back in front 2-1 and Max Ayoub's leadoff home run in the fourth made it 3-1.
Bennett Oliver led off the fourth with a double for UCM and
Tony Sandifer drove him in with a single to make it 3-2. Sandifer then stole second and advanced to third when the ball got by the catcher and all the way to the backstop. The UNK catcher tried to throw Sandifer out at third, but his throw went in to left field allowing Sandifer trot home with the tying run.
The Lopers went back in front 4-3 in the top of the fifth on Brent Kirsch's leadoff home run, but the Mules answered with five runs in the bottom the inning to grab an 8-4 lead. Cornell had a two-run single to give UCM their first lead of the game.
Dusty Maas scored on a wild pitch, Oliver added a sacrifice fly and
Jackson Schnurbusch had an RBI double to the gap in left center.
The Lopers plated a run in the sixth on Danny Droll's RBI single to make it 8-5, but Cornell drove in his fourth and fifth runs of the game with a single in the eighth to give UCM the 10-5 advantage.
Carlos D'Armas (3-1) allowed five runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings to earn the win for the Mules. He walked just one and struck out six.
Grant Gavin tossed 3.1 innings of no-hit relief to earn his third save of the season. He also struck out six, including striking out the side in the top of the ninth.
Jacob Dittman (3-6) took the loss for Nebraska-Kearney after giving up eight runs, five earned, on eight hits in 4.2 innings. He struck out one and didn't walk a batter.
The second game of the best of three series will be on Friday night at 6 p.m. at Crane Stadium. The game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with
Bob Jackson on the call. A pay-per-view webcast is also available through the UCM Media Network. Fans can access the webcast at UCMathletics.com/gamecentral.
