WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Brennen van Breusegen and
Garrett Pennington each homered as No. 6-ranked and top-seeded Central Missouri Mules baseball turned back the fourth-seeded Minnesota State Mavericks, 9-6, in an NCAA-II Central Region elimination game Friday, May 20, at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
The victory marked the 300th career win for Central Missouri head coach
Kyle Crookes, who becomes the third UCM baseball head coach in program history to reach at least 300 wins.
The Mules (44-8) will face eighth-seeded Ouachita Baptist in another elimination game Saturday, May 21, at 2 p.m.
Central Missouri, which was the visiting team in the game, opened a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when
Isaiah Pani plated Pennington on an RBI ground-out to shortstop.
UCM added four runs in the top of the third after
Michael Chrisman roped an RBI triple down the right field line, bringing in
Harrison Schnurbusch, prior to van Breusegen crushing a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for a two-run home run – his 15th homer of the season, and Pennington hitting a sacrifice fly to left, allowing
John Prudhom to cross the plate for the 5-0 advantage.
The Mavericks cut the Central Missouri lead to 5-3 with three runs in the bottom-half of the third, but the Mules answered with two in the fourth. Schnurbusch smacked an RBI single to left, scoring Pani for the opening run of the frame before
Cole Moore hit an RBI ground out to short, plating Schnurbusch, upping the UCM lead to 7-3.
Again, Minnesota State responded, scoring two runs in the bottom-half of the fourth, trimming the Mule lead to 7-5.
Both teams traded runs, scoring a run each in the fifth and seventh innings, sending Central Missouri to the top of the ninth with an 8-6 advantage.
Pennington gave UCM an insurance run with one swing, powering a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall for his 10th homer of 2022, increasing the Mule lead to 9-6.
Central Missouri reliever
Brady Gavin worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, sealing the victory for the Mules.
Van Breusegen went 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs while Pennington was 2-for-4 with a homer and a pair of runs batted in, and Prudhom, Pani, Schnurbusch and Moore each had two hits, leading UCM at the plate.
Josh Bortka (4-0) earned the win on the mound in relief for UCM, allowing two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks in three innings while Gavin picked up his seventh save of the season after tossing two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Cam Kline went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in two runs, pacing the Mavericks (39-9) offensively.
MSU starter Brendan Knoll (8-3) suffered the loss on the rubber, giving up seven earned runs on eight hits with one strikeout in three innings.
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