PITTSBURG, Kan. (May 12, 2019) - The never-say-die attitude of Mules Baseball was in full force late Saturday morning in their 5-4 win over Missouri Southern. Twice the Mules needed to comeback, including scoring twice in the ninth to send them to the MIAA Tournament Championship game for the second straight year.

Play-by-Play
• Missouri Southern got on the board first with a pair of second-inning runs. They led off the frame with a solo home run, then doubled up three batters later with another solo shot to right.
• UCM cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Josh Schumacher started it with a single before Michael Sinks was hit by a pitch.
• With one out, Donovan Ditto singled to center and made it a 2-1 game.
• The Mules took their first lead an inning later. Alex Madera led off with a single through the left side and on the first pitch, Erik Webb sent a ball well over the field in the left, as UCM led 3-2.
• The score stayed that way as Jonathan Sprinkle entered and was dealing zeros. That is until a two-out, 3-2 solo home run to left center tied the game at three.
• Going to the ninth still tied a three, Missouri Southern used a two-out rally to plate the go-ahead run. A bases-loaded walk brought in a run to make it a 4-3 game.
• No quit in UCM though, with one out, Ditto drew a four-pitch walk and was lifted for pinch runner Zack Ehlen. On an 0-1 pitch, Zak Whalin snuck a double inside the third base bag as Ehlen came in all the way from first to score the tying run.
• Pinch runner Dalton Dull moved to third on a wild pitch. And on a 2-2 pitch, Mason Janvrin came through with a single right to score the game-winning run.

Mules Stat Leaders
• Big-game effort for Jonathan Sprinkle. He threw 5.2 innings striking out 10 while allowing two runs on four hits.
• Evan Rathburn picked up the win throwing one-third of an inning.
• Erik Webb had a three-hit game with a home run, two RBI.
• Harrison Schnurbusch also had three hits.
• Alex Madera had a hit and a run.
• Donovan Ditto had a hit and an RBI.

For the Lions
• Joey Reeves threw 6.1 innings out of the bullpen allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
• Mike Million went 3-4 with a home run and two RBI.
• Matt Miiller and Ryan Hunter each hit solo home runs. 
• Denver Coffee picked up a hit and an RBI.

News and Notes
• Four games in the MIAA and the fourth time the score has been 5-4.
• Mason Janvrin's walk-off hit extended reached base streak to 51 games this season and 63 in the last two.
• Jonathan Sprinkles 5.2 innings and 10 strikeouts were both a career high.
• Mules pitchers struck out 15 Lions. That's tied for the third most in a game this season.
• The Lions left 10 runners on base, hitting just 1-14 with runners on base while UCM was 6-13.

Up Next
• The Mules will play for their second straight MIAA Championship later this afternoon. They'll take on the winner of Pittsburg State and Central Oklahoma at approxemately 4 p.m.