ST. CHARLES, Mo. (April 5, 2016) – The 26th-ranked Mules overcame five errors on defense and rallied for a 6-4 win at Lindenwood on Tuesday night to complete the season sweep of the Lions. The Mules out-hit LWU 12-6 en route to their ninth straight win.
The Mules (20-8, 18-3 MIAA) jumped in front 1-0 in the top of the first.
Matt Elliott led off with a walk, went to second on a sac bunt and scored on
Jake Alexander's single to put UCM in front.
The lead didn't last long as Lindenwood (13-16, 7-14 MIAA) took advantage of a UCM error to tie the game on Drew Quinones' RBI single. The Lions went in front 2-1 in the third thanks to another UCM fielding error.
The Mules regained the lead with a pair of runs in the sixth. Bennet Oliver's sacrifice fly brought home
Dylan Farrell to tie the game and
Miles Orscheln singled home Alexander to put UCM back in front 3-2.
Central Missouri missed out on an opportunity to pad the lead in the top of the seventh.
Blake Wilfong tripled with one out in the inning, but a pair of pop-ups kept UCM off the board.
The Lions took advantage to regain the lead in the bottom of the seventh. A pair of walks to start the inning led to a pair of runs, one on a Ryan Sosnowski sacrifice bunt and the go-ahead score on a Quinones RBI single and LWU led 4-3.
The Mules answered back in the eighth with two runs of their own to retake the lead, 5-4. Oliver singled and went to third on
Derek Cornell's fielder's choice and an LWU error. Orscheln singled home the tying run and
Matt Safranek's sac bunt brought home Cornell with the go-ahead score.
The Mules added one run in the top of the ninth to make the lead 6-4. Wilfong led off with a double, went to third on a groundout and later scored on a wild pitch.
The Lions got one runner on in the ninth on a one-out error, but
Grant Gavin came up with two big strikeouts to close out the game and earn his fifth save of the season.
Ross Juliana (2-1) picked up the win in relief for UCM, tossing one inning of one-hit relief.
Ben Kelsch allowed two unearned runs on three hits in 3.1 innings of his first collegiate start.
Tayler Ross tossed 2.2 innings of two-hit relief, while
Andy Muehlberger and Gavin each tossed a scoreless inning as well with Muehlberger striking out the side in the eighth.
Brendan Kleekamp (1-4) took the loss for Lindenwood after allowing five runs, three earned, on 11 hits in eight innings of work.
Orscheln finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Wilfong went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and a run scored. Alexander, Farrell, and Oliver each finished with two hits apiece as well.
The Mules return home on April 8 to open a three-game series with 11th-ranked Emporia State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Friday night at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
