WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Central Missouri Mules baseball secured a series win over the No. 20-ranked Davenport Panthers Monday, Feb. 21, splitting a doubleheader at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field to take the four-game series, 3-1. The Mules rolled to a 12-1 victory in seven innings in game one before dropping the series finale, 6-5.
Central Missouri (5-3) is slated to open MIAA play with a three-game series at Northwest Missouri State Feb. 25-27 in Maryville, Mo.
In the 12-1, game-one triumph, UCM exploded for seven runs in the first inning to burst out to a 7-0 advantage and never looked back on its way to the win.
Cole Moore got the offensive surge started with a two-run home to right field, his first home of the season, before
Jacob Steele slashed an RBI triple to right-center for the third run of the frame. The Mules scored their next pair of runs on Panther wild pitches prior to
Harrison Schnurbusch smacking a two-run, ground-rule double to right field for the final two runs of the inning and the 7-0 lead.
Central Missouri tacked on three runs in the fourth after Schnurbusch crossed the plate on a bases loaded walk,
John Prudhom scored on a wild pitch and
Sam Tatum hit a sacrifice fly that allowed
Carter Young to score, ballooning its lead to 10-0.
UCM put an exclamation mark on the game with two runs in the fifth.
Seth Kenagy hit an RBI infield single to shortstop, and a Davenport error allowed
Michael Chrisman to score, growing the Mule lead to 12-0.
Schnurbusch and Moore each had two hits and drove in two runs, while Steele tallied two RBIs, pacing Central Missouri at the plate.
UCM right-hander
Jacob Merithew (1-0) earned the victory on the mound after throwing five innings of one-hit baseball, giving up no earned runs with six strikeouts and zero walks on 55 total pitches.
Logan Hylek had one hit and drove in the only run of the game, pacing the Panthers offensively.
Evan Maize (0-1) suffered the loss on the rubber for Davenport after allowing six earned runs on three hits with one strikeout and three walks in 2/3 of an inning.
The game two, 6-5 loss saw the Mules take a 1-0 lead in the second before the Panthers (2-5) scored five in the third to gain a 5-1 advantage.
UCM pulled within 5-4 with three in the bottom-half of the third but was unable to tie or take the lead the remainder of the contest.
Chrisman, Moore, Prudhom, Steele and Tatum each had a hit in game two, and
Jack Schark compiled a pair of RBIs, leading Central Missouri in the batter's box.
Right-hander
Adam Gray (0-1) took the loss on the bump for the Mules in game two, surrendering five runs – four earned – on five hits with two Ks in 2 2/3 innings.
Ben Mets went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs to lead Davenport at the plate.
Panther reliever Jared Schwartz (1-0) tallied the win after giving up an earned run on no hits with four strikeouts and two walks in five innings, while Pablo Jacques posted his first save of the season after getting the final out of the game.
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