KEARNEY, Neb. (March 18, 2017) -- Fourth-ranked Central Missouri jumped out to a big lead, but saw Nebraska-Kearney score seven runs in the final four innings, including five in the ninth to rally for an 11-10 win over the Mules on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field.
The Mules (16-5, 8-3 MIAA) led 10-6 heading in to the ninth inning, but the Lopers (8-13, 1-7 MIAA) plated five runs on just hits to rally for the win. UNK took advantage of four walks, a hit batter, and a UCM fielding error in the inning.
UCM jumped out to another big lead, scoring five runs in the top of the first.
Collin Nevil had an RBI double and
Matt Elliott had an RBI single to make it 2-0. Nevil then stole home on a double steal to make it 3-0, before
Miles Orscheln and
Connor Sorge added run-scoring singles to cap the scoring.
The Lopers scored two in the home half of the inning on an RBI groundout from Dallas Schramm and an RBI single from Josh Estrada to make it 5-2, but
Erik Webb led off the second with his first home run of the season to give the Mules a 6-2 lead.
Nevil hit his sixth home run of the season, tied for the team lead, in the fourth. The two-run blast made it 8-2 Mules. A Jacob Richardson two-run shot in the home half of the inning pulled UNK back to within four at 8-4.
Justin Graff-Rowe doubled home a run in the fifth to make it 9-4 in favor of the Mules, but Schramm's two-run double in the sixth pulled the Lopers to within three at 9-6.
Graff-Rowe drove in his second run of the game in the seventh on a single to give the Mules a 10-6 lead that they would take to the ninth inning.
Starter
Steven D'Amico allowed four runs on 10 hits over five innings of work, but didn't factor in the decision.
Andy Muehlberger (1-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season after allowing three runs in the ninth inning.
Weston Glienke (2-0) earned the win in relief for the Lopers after tossing a scoreless top of the ninth inning.
Nevil finished the day 2-for-5 with a double, home run and three RBI while Graff-Rowe was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs batted in.
The series wraps up on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Memorial Field.
