WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 5, 2017) --
Justin Graff-Rowe had three hits and four RBI and
Stanton Lohrengel picked up his first win of the season as the Mules snapped their three-game skid with an 8-2 win over Rockhurst on Wednesday night at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
The Hawks (16-13) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on back-to-back RBI singles by Henry Weiler and Alex Van Pelt. The Mules (21-9) took the lead in the home half when
Justin Graff-Rowe hit a laser three-run home run to deep center field.
Jackson Schnurbusch hit a solo home run in the second to give the Mules a 4-2 lead. It was his second home run in as many games and third of the season. Graff-Rowe had an RBI double in the third and scored on
Cole Distler's single to right field to give the Mules a 6-2 lead.
Schnurbusch added an RBI triple in the sixth and
Collin Nevil singled in a run in the seventh for the 8-2 advantage.
That was more than enough for the UCM pitching staff as they limited Rockhurst to the two runs on six hits. Lohrengel (1-0) allowed two runs on four hits over five innings of work to earn his first win at UCM in his first start.
Cory Simpson,
Charlie Skantze,
Ben Kelsch and
Luke Mercer all threw an inning of scoreless relief as well.
PJ Seufert (1-1) took the loss for Rockhurst after allowing six runs on six hits in 2.2 innings of work.
Graff-Rowe and Nevil each finished with three hits in the game, while Schnurbusch had two.
The Mules are back in action this weekend with a top-20 showdown at 17th-ranked Emporia State. The three-game series gets underway on Friday night at 6 p.m. at the Trusler Sports Complex in Emporia.
