WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Third-ranked Central Missouri Mules baseball split a doubleheader to open its 2025 home schedule Friday, Feb. 7, at Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field against the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys, winning game one, 13-4, before dropping game two, 4-3 in 12 innings.
The Mules (3-2) and Wonder Boys (1-4) are scheduled to play another doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, to wrap up the four-game series.
In the 13-4 win in game one, UCM jumped out to a 11-4 lead after scoring four runs in the second inning and seven in the fourth inning to coast to the eventual 13-4 victory.
Chase Heath went 3-for-4 with a ground-rule double and two RBI,
Dayvin Johnson was 2-for-3 with three RBI,
Vance Tobol was 2-for-4 with a homer – his first of the season – and drove in two runs, and
Cole Funkhouser was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in, leading Central Missouri at the plate in the opener.
Reliever
Bryce Taylor (1-0) earned the victory on the mound in game one, allowing no earned runs on just two hits with one walk in 1 1/3 innings of work.
Christian Olea and Kirby Jenkins each had two hits to lead Arkansas Tech offensively.
Wonder Boy starter Daniel Hutchison (0-2) suffered the setback on the rubber, giving up 11 runs – seven earned – on eight hits with two strikeouts and six walks in four innings.
In the 4-3, 12-inning setback in the nightcap, Arkansas Tech plated a run in the top of the 12th inning to break a 3-3 tie and kept the Mules off the scoreboard in the bottom-half of the inning to secure the victory.
Tobol collected his second consecutive home run on the day in game two while Heath had a pair of hits, including a triple, pacing UCM in the batter's box.
Reliever
Payton Messer (0-1) took the tough-luck loss on the mound in game two for UCM, surrendering one unearned run on no hits with one strikeout in the 12th inning.
Sawyer Duddleston had a pair of doubles and Cole Dawson added two hits, leading the Wonder Boys at the plate in the second contest.
Arkansas Tech relief pitcher JT Cafferty (1-0) earned the win in game two, allowing no earned runs on no hits with three strikeouts and one walk in three innings.
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