ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (April 28, 2017) – Missouri Western rallied from a 7-2 deficit in game one and then ran away from the Mules in game two to sweep a doubleheader on Friday. The Griffons won the opener 8-7 and took the nightcap 9-3 to sweep the doubleheader and the series.
Game 1 Recap
The Griffons (28-18, 25-11 MIAA) struck first, plating a run in the bottom of the first on Levi Schreiner's RBI double. Dusty Stroup, the younger brother of the Mules'
Travis Stroup added an RBI single in the third and Missouri Western led 2-0.
The Mules (30-15, 21-12 MIAA) got on the board with four runs in the top of the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.
Travis Able singled with one out, went to third on a single and scored on a wild pitch to get UCM on the board. Following a walk to Stroup,
Collin Nevil belted a three-run home run to right center to put the Mules in front. It was his second homer in as many days and tied him for the league lead with 13.
Central Missouri added three more runs in the top of the sixth to take a 7-2 lead.
John Fairchild scored on
Miles Orscheln's RBI fielder's choice and Stroup added a two-run double.
The Griffons came right back in the home half scoring four runs to pull within a run at 7-6. The first three batters reached to load the bases and Andrew Curry cleared them with a double to pull Missouri Western within 7-5 and Schreiner added a sacrifice fly later in the inning to score Curry.
Curry put the Griffs back in front 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out, two-run home run.
That lead stood to the ninth when the Mules got two runners on with one out, but were they were unable to push across any runs to tie the game and the Griffons won the opener.
Stanton Lohrengel (3-1) suffered the loss in relief for the Mules, giving up two runs on two hits in two innings of work.
Jared Lloyd (4-0) earned the win for Missouri Western, while Zach Cross picked up the save after retiring the final two batters.
Game 2 Recap
The Mules jumped on top in the first inning on Nevil's RBI infield single that scored
Matt Elliott. The lead didn't last, however, as the Griffons got a two-out single and then RBI triple from Dusty Stroup to tie the game after one.
Missouri Western broke into the lead with four runs in the second inning. Jeremy Alvarado had an RBI infield single to break the 1-1 tie and put the Griffs in front. Nick Gawley had a two-run single and Dusty Stroup added an RBI single to make it 5-1. MWSU added another run in the third when Bailey Zimmer scored on a wild pitch to lead 6-1.
Justin Graff-Rowe led off the top of the fourth with a hit by pitch, stole second, and scored on
Jackson Schnurbusch's single to right to make it 6-2. The Mules got to within 6-3 in the seventh on
Travis Able's RBI single, but they would get no closer.
The Griffons tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Stroup had a two-run single and Logan Marston drew a bases-loaded walk to give MWSU a 9-3 lead.
Nate Hunter (7-2) picked up a complete-game win for the Griffons allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out 11.
Ross Juliana (2-1) took the loss for UCM after giving up six runs on nine hits in 2.1 innings of work.
The Mules return home next weekend to host Washburn in the final series of the regular season. The series gets underway on Friday night at 6 p.m.
