BOLIVAR, Mo. – The second-ranked University of Central Missouri Mules Baseball team scored a combined 29 runs in two games as it swept a doubleheader against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats on Friday, Feb. 13, at Dodson Field, winning game one, 14-4, and taking the nightcap, 15-6 in eight innings.
The Mules (8-2) are scheduled to open MIAA play with a three-game series at Northeastern State (4-3) Feb. 20-22 in Tahlequah, Okla.
In the opener, the Mules scored two runs each in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and ninth innings, and exploded for six runs in the eighth on their way to the 14-4, 10-run victory.
Kaiden Ashton went 3-for-6 with two doubles and five RBI,
Cole Funkhouser was 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI,
Evan Vienhage and
Ryker Edwards each compiled three hits, and Gran Hollister,
Brock Kobel, and
Jackson Helberg each had two hits, pacing UCM at the plate in game one.
Central Missouri reliever
Sam Wyrick (1-0) earned the win on the mound in the first game, allowing two earned runs on two hits with one strikeout and one walk in 2 2/3 innings.
In the nightcap, the game was tied, 6-6, before the Mules scored eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to open up a 14-6 lead and cruise to the 15-6 triumph.
Michael Smosna scored
Drew Veatch with a triple down the left field line before
Cole Young drove in Smosna with a bunt single for the opening two runs of the seventh. Hollister plated Young with an RBI fielder's choice, and Funkhouser crossed home plate on an SBU error, upping the UCM lead to 10-6.
Chase Wilcox drove in Ashton with an RBI infield single, Vienhage doubled to right-center to bring in Wilcox and Hollister, and
Brock Kobel plated Vienhage with an RBI single to centerfield for the final three runs of the inning.
Wilcox went 3-for-4 with two RBI, Smosna was 2-for-5 with two runs and a triple, Vienhage drove in three runs, and Kobel added two hits, leading UCM offensively in game two.
Central Missouri relief pitcher
Gavin Williams (3-0) picked up the victory on the rubber in game two, surrendering no earned runs on just one hit with two strikeouts and no walks in two innings of work.
Over two games, Central Missouri outscored Southwest Baptist (2-4), 29-10, and outhit the Bearcats, 33-20.
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