MARYVILLE, Mo. (March 26, 2017) -- Mules Baseball split their series-opening doubleheader at Northwest Missouri on Sunday afternoon. The Mules won the opener 4-1, before falling 7-2 in the nightcap. The Mules are now 19-6 overall and 11-4 in MIAA play with one game remaining in the series.
The Mules jumped on top in game one in the fourth inning with back-to-back home runs from
Travis Stroup and
Collin Nevil to start the inning and give UCM a 2-0 lead. UCM took a 3-0 lead in the sixth on Stroup's second solo home run of the game.
The Bearcats (16-9, 5-7 MIAA) got on the board in the home half of that inning on Ozzie Adams' RBI double to make it 3-1. The Mules got that run back in the ninth on
Justin Graff-Rowe's two-out RBI single, giving the Mules a 4-1 lead.
Zach Girrens (4-0) picked up the win, tossing six solid innings. He allowed one run on three hits while striking out nine.
Tayler Ross tossed two-thirds of an inning of scoreless relief and
JJ Benes picked up his first career save tossing 2.1 innings of no-hit relief with five strikeouts.
Anthony Caenepeel (4-4) took the loss for the Bearcats, allowing three runs on seven hits in eight innings of work.
The Bearcats flipped the script in game two, scoring in the bottom of the first on a Luke Hassman RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. Adams' RBI single to right gave NWMSU a 2-0 lead in the third and Hassman's lead-off home run in the fourth made it 3-0.
The Mules got back to within 3-2 scoring once in the fifth on
Jackson Schnurbusch's RBI groundout and once in the sixth on Nevil's RBI double. UCM came close to tying the game later in the inning, but Nevil was cut down at the plate on perfect relay throw from the outfield.
A UCM wild pitch in the home half of the sixth gave the Bearcats a 4-2 lead and Jay Hrdlicka's three-run home run in the seventh made it 7-2.
Steven D'Amico (3-1) suffered the loss for UCM, his first of the season, after allowing four runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings. He did strike out six in the game. Joseph Hietpas (3-1) got the win for Northwest allowing two runs on six hits in 6.2 innings while fanning 10 UCM batters.
The series wraps up on Monday afternoon with the rubber match slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch at Bearcat Field.
