WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 13, 2016) -- The 16th-ranked Mules got some good pitching and timely hitting en route to a 5-1 win over Southwest Baptist in the first of three midweek meetings. The Mules improve to 23-9 overall and 21-4 in MIAA play.

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when SBU (17-18, 12-13 MIAA) struck first. Christian Binger had a two-out double and scored on Chance Wolfe's RBI single to right.

The Mules took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, scoring a pair of runs to lead 2-1. Bennett Oliver led off the inning with a solo home run to tie the game and Cole Distler tripled and scored on Matt Safranek's infield single.

UCM added two more runs in the seventh to grab a 4-1 lead. Derek Cornell scored on a wild pitch to plate the first run and Jackson Schnurbusch added a sacrifice fly. Jake Alexander doubled to lead off the eighth and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Mules a 5-1 lead.

The four-run lead was more than enough for the UCM pitching staff. The Mules held SBU to three hits in the game. Starter JJ Benes didn't allow a hit in 3.1 innings of work. He struck out one and walked three. Austin Southmayd (2-0) allowed one run on two hits in 1.2 innings of relief to earn the win and Ross Juliana tossed four innings of one-hit relief to pick up his second four-inning save of the season.

Distler and Schnurbusch finished with two hits apiece and Distler also scored a pair of runs.

The Mules are back in action on Friday night hosting Missouri Southern in the first game of a three-game series. First pitch on Friday night is slated for 6 p.m. at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field. Friday is also dollar popcorn night and fans will receive a free UCM Athletics/Coca-Cola t-shirt upon entrance. The game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Bob Jackson and Ricky Rivera on the call.