WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Central Missouri Mules baseball snapped a two-game skid with a doubleheader sweep of the No. 20-ranked Davenport Panthers Sunday, Feb. 20, at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field, winning game one, 6-5, before taking the nightcap, 8-3.
The Mules (4-2) are slated to wrap up the four-game series with the Panthers (1-4) with an 11 a.m. twin bill Monday, Feb. 21.
In the 6-5 triumph in game one,
Carter Young went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while
John Prudhom homered and drove in one run, pacing the Mules at the plate. The homer was Prudhom's first of the season.
UCM reliever
Tyler Kotsis (2-0) earned the win on the mound after tossing an inning and allowing no earned runs on no hits with two strikeouts and one walk, while
Brady Gavin secured his first save of the season after getting the final out of the top of the ninth.
The Mules jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second after Prudhom belted a lead-off home run over the left field fence and
Harrison Schnurbusch crossed home plate on an RBI ground out off the bat of
Carter Young.
UCM built its lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth Young scored on a Davenport error.
The Panthers knotted the game, 3-3, in the top of the sixth, though, on an inside-the-park, two-run home run from Christian Petre.
Central Missouri answered quickly, however, gaining a 5-3 edge on an
Isaiah Pani RBI double down the right field line and a Panther wild pitch in the seventh.
The Mules tacked on a run in the eighth when Schnurbusch scored on another Davenport error.
The Panthers attempted to mount a late comeback in the top of the ninth on a Noah Marcoux two-run homer, but Gavin got a ground out to third on a 2-2 pitch to seal the UCM win.
Petre went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a home run, while Marcoux drove in three runs and went 2-for-4 with a homer, pacing the Panthers offensively.
Davenport reliever Spencer Vainavicz (0-1) suffered the loss after surrendering two earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 1 2/3 innings.
In the 8-3 victory in game two, Prudhom continued his stellar day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a grand slam and triple, going along with four RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Mules, while Schnurbusch and
Michael Chrisman each had a pair of hits, with Schnurbusch also tallying a triple.
Reliever
Harrison Babbitt (1-0) picked up his first win of the season on the rubber after giving up no earned runs on no hits with a strikeout and no walks in an inning of relief.
The Mules used a five-run seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie and eventually post the 8-3 win.
Young drove in the first run of the frame on an RBI bunt single that scored
Vance Tobol before Prudhom delivered the knock-out punch of the inning after belting a 1-0 pitch over the left-center fence for his second homer of the day and first grand slam of 2022.
Brennan Lux went 1-for-3 with a homer, leading Davenport in the nightcap.
DU reliever Carson Fischer (1-1) took the setback on the mound, allowing five earned runs on six hits with four Ks and a walk in three innings of work.
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