WARRENSBURG, Mo. – John Prudhom homered twice and
Brennen van Breusegen had three hits, leading No. 4-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball to an 11-3 victory over the Missouri Southern Lions Sunday, April 10, at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
The Mules (29-4, 22-1 MIAA) completed a three-game, series sweep of the Lions (23-15, 13-10 MIAA) with the win.
A senior from Racine, Wis., Prudhom upped his team-best season home run tally to 13 after hitting two round trippers in four at bats with six RBIs and a pair of runs scored. van Breusegen added a 3-for-4 performance with a double and drove in three runs while
Jack Schark smacked his third homer of the season and went 2-for-4, pacing Central Missouri at the plate.
Reliever
Tyler Rardin (4-0) picked up the victory on the mound after tossing 1 1/3 innings and allowing two earned runs on two hits on 25 pitches.
UCM got out in front early, gaining a 1-0 lead in the first when Prudhom hit a sacrifice fly to center, allowing
Michael Chrisman to cross home plate.
Central Missouri added a trio of runs in the third after van Breusegen hit a double down the left field line, bringing in Chrisman, before Prudhom demolished an 0-2 pitch over the left field fence for a two-run homer, increasing the Mules lead to 4-0.
The Lions fought back, however, and trimmed the UCM advantage to 4-3 with two runs in the top of the fifth, but the Mules had an immediate answer, plating three in the bottom-half of the inning when Prudhom crushed a three-run home run to left-center, upping the Central Missouri lead to 7-3.
The Mules added another pair of runs in the sixth, opening a 9-3 advantage on a Chrisman sacrifice fly and van Breusegen RBI single through the right side, before putting tacking on another two runs in the bottom of the eighth via Schark's solo homer to left field and a van Breusegen RBI ground-out.
Tommy Stevenson went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs while Jordan Fitzpatrick was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, pacing Missouri Southern.
Lion starter Cole Woods (3-3) was the losing pitcher after surrendering one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 3 2/3 innings.
The Mules are slated to travel to St. Joseph, Mo., for an MIAA contest at Missouri Western Tuesday, April 12.
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