WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Left-hander
Cole Schroeder struck out a career-high seven batters in seven innings, lifting No. 4-ranked and top-seeded Central Missouri Mules baseball to a 6-4 victory over eighth-seeded St. Cloud State in an NCAA-II Central Regional elimination game Saturday, May 20, at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field.
The Mules (43-14) advance to the regional semifinals in the double-elimination tournament with the win and will face the No. 5-seeded Augustana (S.D.) Vikings Sunday, May 21, at noon in Warrensburg. Central Missouri will have to beat Augustana twice Sunday to advance to the NCAA-II Super Regional.
A redshirt junior from Foristell, Mo., Schroeder improved to 2-1 on the mound in 2023 after scattering seven hits and giving up just two earned runs with his career-best seven Ks to go along with zero walks on 105 total pitches.
UCM jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning when
Carter Young crossed home plate on a St. Cloud State error and
Isaiah Pani belted an RBI single up the middle, plating
Vance Tobol.
The Mules upped their lead with a run each in the third frame and three in the fourth inning.
John Prudhom crushed a solo homer to left field in the third before
Cole Moore went deep to right with a solo round-tripper in the fourth, making it 4-0, Central Missouri. It was Prudhom's team-high 17th home run of the season and Moore's sixth homer of 2023.
Young and
Jack Schark hit RBI singles through the right side and to left field, scoring
Chase Heath and
Mason Lowe for the final two runs of the fourth inning, increasing the UCM advantage to 6-0.
The Huskies (33-20) trimmed the Mules' lead to 6-4 with a run each in the sixth and seventh and two in the top of the ninth but couldn't get any closer.
Schark went 2-for-4 with while Young, Heath, Prudhom, Moore and Pani all had one hit, leading UCM at the plate.
Ben Clapp went 2-for-4 with a home run, pacing St. Cloud State offensively.
SCSU starting pitcher Jack Habeck (3-5) suffered the loss on the rubber, allowing four earned runs on four hits with one strikeout and two walks in three innings of work.
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