WARRENSBURG, Mo. – No. 11-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball made it nine consecutive victories with a doubleheader sweep of the Emporia State Hornets Sunday, March 13, at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field, rolling to a 12-2 win in seven innings in game one before taking the nightcap, 10-5.
The Mules (14-3, 8-0 MIAA) and Hornets (8-13, 2-6Â MIAA) are scheduled to wrap up the three-game, MIAA series with a 1 p.m. contest Monday, March 14, in Warrensburg.
In Central Missouri's 12-2, run-rule triumph in game one, UCM used a seven-run second inning to take control of the game and open up a 10-0 advantage after scoring three in the first inning.
Cole Moore drove in the opening run of the second, plating
Michael Chrisman on a RBI single through the right side before
Brennen van Breusegen slashed a single to right field, allowing Moore and
Harrison Schnurbusch to cross home plate, upping the Mule lead to 6-0.
Carter Young belted a single up the middle, bringing in van Breusegen and John Pruhom, then
Garrett Pennington blasted an RBI double to left, scoring Young, ballooning the UCM advantage to 9-0. Pennington scored on an Emporia State wild pitch for the seventh and final run of the frame and 10-0 lead in the game.
The Hornets scored two in the top of the third, cutting the Mule advantage to 10-2, but that's as close as they got, as UCM added a run in the bottom-half of the third and sixth, before keeping ESU off the scoreboard in the seventh, ending the game via run-rule, 12-2.
Chrisman went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, a double and a triple, while Young added a 3-for-4 performance with a double and four RBIs, pacing Central Missouri at the plate in game one.
UCM right-hander
Collin Jones (3-0) earned the victory on the mound after surrendering two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks in 5 1/3 innings pitched.
Sam Chaput went 2-for-4 with a home run, double and two RBIs, leading Emporia State offensively in the opener.
ESU starter Jarrett Seaton (2-2) took the loss after allowing seven earned runs on five hits with no strikeouts and four walks in 1 1/3 innings of work.
In UCM's 10-5, game two win, the Mules plated five runs in the bottom of the second to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 lead – a lead they would not relinquish on the ways to their ninth straight victory.
Jack Schark delivered the opening run of the inning for Central Missouri, hitting a single right back up the middle, scoring Pennington, tying the game, 1-1. Schark crossed home plate for the go-ahead run after beating a throw home on a bunt from Chrisman before Schnurbusch belted a two-run double to right-center, plating Chrisman and
Chase Heath, and Prudhom made it 5-1, UCM, when he singled through the right side to score Schnurbusch.
Emporia State responded with three runs in the fifth and a run in the seventh to trim the Central Missouri lead to 6-5, but the Mules answered with four runs in the bottom-half of the seventh, opening up a 10-5 lead.
Sam Tatum delivered the big hit of the inning for Central Missouri, powering a bases-clearing, three-RBI double to left field prior to Schark bringing in the fourth run of the frame on a single to right field.
Schark went 4-for-5 with a pair of runs batted in, while Moore added a 3-of-6 showing, and Schnurbusch went 2-for-5 with a double and drove in two runs, pacing the Mules in the nightcap.
Central Missouri reliever
Ethan Peterson (2-0) posted the win on the rubber in game two, giving up just one unearned run on two hits with three Ks and no walks in 2 1/3 innings.
TJ Racherbaumer was 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, pacing Emporia State.
ESU starter Aaron Bechtel (1-5) suffered the loss in the second contest, allowing six earned runs on 13 hits with four strikeouts and four walks in 5 2/3 innings.
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