Mules Baseball Advances To MIAA Championship

JOPLIN, Mo. (May 21, 2021) - Central Missouri is back in the MIAA Tournament championship. They defeated Central Oklahoma 11-7 in the semifinals to advance in the first game Friday afternoon. The Mules got down three early, but scored 10 unearned runs before holding on for a four-run win.

How it Happened
• The Mules totaled 15 hits to the Bronchos 10. Six of the Mules 15 were for extra bases with five doubles.
• Each team struck out eight times. Mule pitchers walked five and the Mules hitters walked three times.
• UCO committed two errors in the field while UCM was clean for their second straight game in Joplin.
• Things did not start off well for the Mules Collin Jones gave up home runs in each of the first two innings and UCM trailed 3-0 after an inning and a half.
• Donovan Ditto got the scoring started in the second. He doubled home Cole Taylor going to the opposite field for the Mules first run. After the second out of the inning, the Mules strung together four straight hits, getting RBI hits from Gavin Strobel, Josh Schumacher and Erik Webb and took a 4-3 lead.
• Collin Jones settled in from there and worked three straight scoreless innings. The Mules gave him plenty of run support in the fourth. Erik Webb blasted a three-run home run to deep left field. Cole Taylor plated two with a double and Ditto's RBI ground out gave the Mules a 10-3 lead.
• Rain started falling in the sixth inning with the Mules up 10-3. After Max Abramovich escaped a jam, the game was delayed because of rain. The rain only lasted a short bit, 13 minutes to be exact, before play resumed. 
• Central Oklahoma didn't go quietly after the delay. In the top of the seventh they put three runs on the board to make it a 10-6 game. They led off the frame with a solo home run and scored two more on a wild pitch and an infield single.
• The Mules got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Josh Schumacher drove in Harrison Schnurbusch with a two-out single. 
• The Bronchos put another run on the board in the eighth, but Evan Rathburn worked a scoreless ninth to hang on for an 11-7 win.

Mules Stat Leaders
• Erik Webb drove in four runs with a three-run home run.
• Josh Schumacher finished 3-5 with two runs and two RBI.
• Gavin Strobel drove in a run and had two hits.
• Harrison Schnurbusch, Dusty Stroup and Cole Taylor each had two hits and a run scored.
• Donovan Ditto drove in two runs with a double.
• Collin Jones got the win on the mound. He pitched five innings allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
• Max Abramovich and Evan Rathburn each pitched scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

For the Bronchos
• Kyle Crowl was 3-5 with two runs and two RBI.
• Philip Scott collected two hits with an RBI.
• Joe Mondragon scored a pair of runs.
• Jacob Bailey started and gave up nine runs on 10 hits.
• Colton Croft and Kyler Patterson allowed two runs in 4.2 innings in relief.  

News and Notes
• The game was delayed for 13 minutes due to rain in the middle of the sixth inning.
• After the bottom of the order provided the offense yesterday, the top of the lineup was 7-14 with a home run and six RBI.
• The Mules 15 hits were their most in an MIAA Tournament game.
• Evan Rathburn has worked back-to-back scoreless innings in Joplin.
• Mason Green and Collin Jones each have two of the Mules four wins on the mound in the MIAA Tournament.
• Micah Evans reached base for the 36 straight game. 

Up Next
• The Mules advance to the MIAA Tournament Championship game. They'll play at 12 p.m. with the opponent still to be determined. The Mules will have be beaten twice while only needing one win for the championship.