ST. CHARLES, Mo. (May 15, 2016) -- 12th-ranked Central Missouri scored eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull away from Washburn for a 16-8 win on Sunday morning and advance to the MIAA Tournament Championship Game later in the day.
The Mules (37-13) jumped on Washburn (34-20) early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first.
Matt Elliott led off with a home run to right to get UCM on the board.
Cole Distler had an RBI infield single and
Matt Safranek plated two more with a single to center.
The Ichabods came right back with two runs in the second and three more in the third to grab a 5-4 lead. Washburn added to the lead in the fifth, adding an unearned run to lead 6-4.
The Mules got a run back in the home half of the fifth on a Safranek sacrifice fly to make it 6-5. The Mules went in front in the sixth when
Jake Alexander roped a two-run double down the line in right to make it 7-6. The Mules made it 8-6 in the seventh on Safranek's RBI double.
Washburn got a run back in the top of the eighth to make it 8-7, but UCM exploded for eight runs in the home half to lead 16-7.
Bennett Oliver and
Derek Cornell had run-scoring singles with the bases loaded and
Cole Distler added a two-run single with a third run scoring on a Washburn throwing error. Safranek added another RBI single and two more runs came home on
Dylan Farrell's two-run double.
Reece Ponak (2-1) earned the win in relief for UCM after tossing 2.1 innings, allowing just one run on one hit with a walk and a strikeout.
Lucas Williams recorded the final five outs, giving up two hits and a run to earn his third save of the season.
Greg Mason (5-3) took the loss for the Ichabods after allowing three runs on six hits in 2.2 innings of relief.
Eight of nine UCM starters had hits in the game with Safranek and Alexander having four apiece. Elliott had three hits and scored four runs and
Cole Distler went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored.
The Mules advance to the MIAA Tournament Championship Game later today where they will face the winner of Emporia State and Missouri Western. That game is slated to start around 4 p.m.
