WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 28, 2016) -- Matt Elliott hit a pair of home runs and
Derek Cornell's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth gave the No. 21 Mules an 11-10 walk-off win over No. 26 Missouri Western on Thursday night at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
The Mules (29-12, 27-7 MIAA) trailed 10-8 entering the ninth inning after the Griffons (31-14, 23-11 MIAA) had scored three times in the top of the eighth to take the lead.
Blake Wilfong started the rally in the ninth for UCM with a single past a diving first baseman. Elliott followed with a single and
Dylan Farrell smoked a line drive at the third baseman, who knocked it down but couldn't make a play, to load the bases with no outs.
Jake Alexander then doubled down the line in right to score a pair and tie the game at 10. Following an intentional walk to
Bennett Oliver, Cornell singled to center field to give the Mules the win and send the team in to a wild celebration.
The Griffons had grabbed the lead in the top of the eighth, scoring three runs on two hits and a UCM throwing error that extended the inning.
Missouri Western jumped out to a 4-0 lead right out of the gate, getting four singles in the top of the first off UCM starter
Tyler House to grab an early lead. Elliott led off the bottom of the first with a home run to right to get UCM on the board and Oliver added an RBI double to make it 4-2 after an inning.
Cole Distler homered leading off the second inning to pull UCM within 4-3 and the Mules jumped in front with four runs in the fourth.
Matt Safranek had an RBI single to tie the game and
Jackson Schnurbusch's RBI sac bunt gave the Mules their first lead of the night. Elliott capped off the inning with his second homer of the game, a two-run shot, to give UCM a 7-4 lead.
The Griffons came right back in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs to tie the game at seven-all. Two RBI singles and a wild pitch led to the Missouri Western runs.
The Mules went back in front 8-7 in the seventh on Alexander's RBI infield single. Farrell had tripled with two outs to start the rally.
Grant Gavin (4-2) picked up the win in relief for the Mules after allowing one run on one hit in 1.1 innings of work. Five Mules pitched in the game with
Tayler Ross throwing two shutout innings of relief and
Andy Muehlberger tossing two-thirds of an inning to get out of a jam in the seventh.
Elliott finished the day 3-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored. Alexander went 4-for-5 with a double and three RBI, while Farrell, Cornell, Distler and Wilfong had two hits apiece.
Preston Bailey (3-1) took the loss for Missouri Western after allowing two runs on four hits without recording an out in the ninth.
The series wraps up on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at noon. The start time has been moved up two hours to try and avoid forecasted rain tomorrow evening. The games can be heard live on 1450 KOKO and warrensburgradio.com with
Bob Jackson and
Ricky Rivera on the call.
