BOLIVAR, Mo. (April 11, 2017) – Central Missouri scored runs in six of eight innings played and pounded out 19 hits in a 13-1 run-rule win at Southwest Baptist on Tuesday afternoon. The Mules scored runs in the first, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.
The Mules (23-11, 14-8 MIAA) jumped on top of the Bearcats (24-11, 14-8 MIAA) right away, scoring on a
Collin Nevil sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead in the first.
John Fairchild led off the third inning with a double for UCM and scored on
Erik Webb's single to left to give the Mules a 2-0 lead. The lead grew to 4-0 in the fourth when
Jackson Schnurbusch doubled home
Matt Safranek and then scored on Fairchild's single to left.
The Mules had runners at the corners and one out in the sixth when a balk sent
Justin Graff-Rowe home to make it 5-0 Mules. Another balk sent
Matt Elliott to third and he scored when
Matt Safranek singled past a drawn-in infield to make it 6-0.
Southwest Baptist got on the board in the bottom of the sixth on Jovany Urbieta's RBI single to right center to make it 6-1. UCM went to the bullpen with Urbieta at third and only one out, but
Brandon Reid got a pair of groundouts to strand the runner at third and keep it a five-run UCM lead.
The Mules loaded the bases in the seventh and scored a run on Nevil's infield single and another on Elliott's sac fly to left to make it 8-1.
Travis Stroup then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when the throw from the catcher sailed in to left field, making it 9-1 in favor of UCM.
The Mules tacked on four more runs in the eighth. Stroup doubled home
Travis Able to make it 10-1. Nevil's two-run single made it 12-1 and Elliott's RBI infield single gave the Mules a 13-1 advantage.
That was more than enough for the UCM pitching staff as
Brandon Reid (1-1) recorded the final eight outs of the game, surrendering just two hits, to pick up his first win of the season. Starter
Stanton Lohrengel gave up just four hits in 4.2 innings while striking out three.
Derek Galvin (0-3) was tagged with the loss for SBU after allowing four runs on eight hits in four innings of work.
Nevil finished the day 2-for-4 with four RBI, while Elliott was 3-for-4 with two RBI, Webb ad three hits and an RBI, and Schnurbusch had three doubles and a run batted in. Able, Safranek and Fairchild also finished the day with two hits apiece as each UCM batter recorded at least one hit in the game.
The Mules return to action on Thursday when they open a three-game series at Missouri Southern. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at Warren Turner Field in Joplin.
