WARRENSBURG, Mo. (May 10, 2018) – Central Missouri won their opening game of the MIAA Championships 9-3 over Missouri Western. The wins puts UCM at 34-15 this season.
Play-by-Play
• Missouri Western got on the board first in the opening frame. They knocked four hits, but only brought one run across as Mule starter
Luke Lucas was able to induce a double play.
• The Mules answered in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own.
Mason Janvrin led off with a double and scored on
Travis Able's squeeze bunt making it 1-0.
• One inning later
Zak Whalin put the Mules ahead with a sacrifice fly to score
Justin Graff-Rowe who reached on a hit-by-pitch.
• After two scoreless innings, MWSU tied things up in the fifth on Fahd Shakeel's two-out RBI single through the right side.
• The Mules took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a Griffons error. What looked to be an inning-ending ground out to short, turned into a throwing error that allowed Whalin to score. One pitch later,
John Fairchild made it 4-2 with a long ground-rule double to center.
• More Missouri Western miscues led to more runs for the Mules in the sixth. They scored four runs getting two on Whalins two-RBI double to center and two more on a fielding error to take an 8-2 lead.
• The teams traded runs in the eighth. The Griffons got one on a fielding error, but the Mules got that right back on
Collin Nevil's RBI double that just squeezed inside the right field foul line.
Mule Stat Leaders
•
Luke Lucas got the start and picked up the win tossing seven innings of two-run ball. He gave up six hits and struck out seven without walking a batter.
• Whalin knocked a pair of doubles and drove in three runs while also scoring twice.
•
Harrison Schnurbusch reached base three times with three singles.
•
Mason Janvrin went 2-5 with two runs scored, a double and a stolen base.
•
Travis Able,
Collin Nevil, and
John Fairchild each had an RBI.
For the Griffons
• Nate Hunter started and threw the first 5.1 innings giving up eight runs (five earned) on nine hits with two walks and no strikeouts.
• Fahd Shakeel finished 2-5 with an RBI.
• Brooks Day reached base twice with a hit, walk and a run scored.
• Ryan Smith doubled and scored a run.
News and Notes
• Central Missouri improves to 4-0 this season against Missouri Western.
•Eight of the nine Mule starters had at least one hit and all nine reached base.
• Lucas struck out a career-high seven batters.
• Mule pitchers walked only two batters batters, none by Lucas.
•
Mason Janvrin picked up his 24
th multiple hit game of the season and
Donovan Ditto extended his team-high hitting streak to eight games.
Up Next
• The Mule advance in the winners bracket to day two. They'll take on seven-seed Emporia State at 4p.m. The Hornets defeated No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri 15-2 in seven innings in their MIAA Tournament opener.
