EDMOND, Okla. – No. 2-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball captured the 2022 MIAA Baseball Championship, presented by Mammoth Sports Construction, after downing the Washburn Ichabods in a pair of dramatic tournament championship games Saturday, May 14, at Wendell Simmons Field on the University of Central Oklahoma Campus, winning game one, 16-13 in 10 innings, before taking the winner-take-all game two, 10-5.
The tournament title is the fourth straight for the Mules (43-7) and the 15th in program history.
With the tournament championship, UCM receives the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA-II Baseball Championship. The full bracket for the championship will be unveiled on the NCAA-II Baseball Championship Selection Show Sunday, May 15, at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.
After falling behind in game one, 12-6, through six innings, Central Missouri outscored Washburn, 10-1, over the final three innings to pull off the come-from-behind 16-13 win in game one.
UCM began chipping away at the six-run deficit with a run in the top of the seventh when
Brennen van Breusegen roped an RBI double to right field, scoring
Cole Moore and bringing the Mules within 12-7.
Central Missouri put the pedal to the metal in the top of the eighth, scoring six runs on five hits to take a 13-12 lead.
Carter Young smacked an RBI infield single to second base to bring home
Jacob Steele before van Breusegen hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring
Isaiah Pani and making it 12-9.
Garrett Pennington kept the inning rolling, hitting a two-RBI single to right field, allowing Young and Moore to cross home plate, trimming the Ichabod lead to 12-11.
Sam Tatum delivered the go-ahead hit for the Mules after ripping a two-run double down the left field line, plating Pennington, and
John Prudhom.
Washburn was able to tie the game with a run in the bottom of the ninth, sending the contest to extra innings.
The Mules wasted no time in regaining the lead – this time for good, tallying three runs in the top of the 10th inning for the 16-13 advantage. Steele worked a bases loaded walk for the opening run of the frame prior to Pani powering a two-RBI double to left-center to bring in Pennington and van Breusegen.
Brady Gavin threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th with a strikeout, pop-out and ground out, sealing the victory for UCM.
Prudhom went 2-for-4 with his team-best 19th homer of the season, four runs scored, and a pair of runs batted in while Pani was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Tatum had a double and drove in three runs, pacing Central Missouri offensively in game one.
Gavin (4-1) earned the victory on the mound after tossing four innings in relief and allowing just one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts and one walk on 63 pitches.
Easton Bruce went 3-for-5 with a home run and five RBIs, pacing Washburn.
Ichabod reliever Julian Zamora (2-1) suffered the loss on the rubber after failing to record an out and surrendering two earned runs on no hits with a pair of walks.
The Mules trailed 2-0 in the penultimate game two before scoring a trio of runs in the second, one in the third and four in the fifth to build an 8-3 lead and go on to clinch the MIAA tournament title with the 10-5 win.
Pani tied the game, 2-2, with one swing in the bottom of the second, crushing a 1-1 pitch over the centerfield wall for a two-run homer – his eighth of 2022 – before
Michael Chrisman chopped an RBI infield single to shortstop, allowing
Harrison Schnurbusch to cross the plate and put UCM in front, 3-2.
Washburn responded with a run in the top of the third, knotting the contest, 3-3, but the Mules answered with a run of their own in the bottom-half of the third, regaining the 4-3 edge when Prudhom scored on an RBI fielder's choice from Pani.
Central Missouri blew the game open with a four-run fifth inning. Tatum scored on an Ichabod wild pitch for the first run of the frame prior to Schnurbusch smacking an RBI single to left, plating Pani, and
Chase Heath roping an RBI double to right-center to bring in Schnurbusch. Heath scored the fourth run of the inning, making it 8-3 after crossing home plate on van Breusegen's RBI fielder's choice.
UCM and Washburn traded runs in the top and bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, bringing the score to 10-5, Mules.
Ethan Peterson worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning with a strikeout and two ground outs, cementing the MIAA tournament championship for the Mules.
Tatum went 2-for-3 with two runs score and drove in a pair of runs while Pani drove in a trio of runs and homered, and Heath and Chrisman each collected a pair of hits, including doubles, pacing UCM in game two.
UCM starting pitcher
Jacob Merithew (2-0) earned the game two win on the rubber after throwing 5 1/3 innings and allowing four earned runs on three hits with a career-high nine strikeouts and just three walks on 96 pitches.
Parker Dunn was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, leading Washburn (33-20) offensively in the second contest.
Starter Rane Pfeifer (2-4) took the loss on the mound for the Ichabods in game two, giving up four earned runs on three hits with six walks and one strikeout in 2 1/3 innings.
Gavin, Prudhom, Tatum, Pani,
Donovan Ditto and
Conner Wolf were all voted to the MIAA Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team, with Pani earning Most Outstanding Player honors after hitting .500 with 10 hits, three doubles, three homers, nine runs scored, 12 RBIs, a 1.100 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage in the Mules' five tournament games.
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