WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 28, 2018) - Central Missouri Mules Baseball took the field on a chilly afternoon in Warrensburg. The Mules earned a series opening win, 10-7 over Northeastern State running their winning streak to four games.
Play-by-Play
• Central Missouri got the scoring started in the first with
Erik Webb's RBI double down the left field line and the Mules were off and running.
• Northeastern State took a brief lead in the second after a lead off walk and a home run from Wes O'Neill.
• The Mules responded in the third by scoring four runs on just one hit. Five straight walks and a fly out scored the first two runs. With the bags full,
Zak Whalin struck a two-RBI single to left to score
Kole Ficken and
Micah Evans.
• After a RiverHawk run in the fourth, UCM padded their lead in the bottom half of the inning with three more for an 8-3 lead.
Michael Sinks and Ficken picked up back-to-back RBI singles and
Donovan Ditto drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.
• Things got dicey in the fifth as the RiverHawks pulled to within a run. With one out and the bases loaded, O'Neill struck again for a two-RBI single to right. A hit-by-pitch drove in another run and Gabe Simons drove in the fourth run with a single.
Bryce Kearns was able to hole the lead getting a ground-ball double-play to end the inning.
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Harrison Schnurbusch gave the Mules some breathing room in the bottom of the fifth with a two-RBI single, pushing the lead to three, 10-7.
• Kearns and
Conner Gremer allowed just two hits in the final four innings as the Mules made the 10-7 lead hold up.
Mules Stat Leaders
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Harrison Schnurbusch finished the game 3-3 and reached base five times with two walks. He scored twice and drove in a pair.
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Erik Webb also collected three hits and two runs with a double.
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Mason Janvrin went 2-5 with a stolen base and two runs scored.
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Zak Whalin drove in two runs on two hits.
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Ben Kelsch got the start lasting four innings and allowing five runs (four earned) on three hits with five walks and four strikeouts.
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Bryce Kearns took over in the middle of the fourth allowing two runs on three hits with three strikeouts to earn the win.
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Conner Gremer pitched the final two innings giving up just one hit and striking out two to earn his first career save.
For the RiverHawks
• Wes O'Neill finished 3-5 with three runs and four RBI. He had the RiverHawks only extra base hits, a double and a home run.
• Gabe Simons was 2-3 with two runs driven in.
• Erick Espinosa scored a run and stole a bsae.
• Jeremy Husband started and lasted 2.1 innigns allowing five runs (four earned) on three hits with six walks.
• James Cowell threw the final 5.2 innings, giving up 12 hits and five runs while striking out three.
News and Notes
• All nine Mules starters collected at least one hit.
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Conner Gremer's save was the first for the Mules this season.
• UCM's four game winning streak is now their longest of the year.
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Erik Webb extended his hitting streak to 13 games to start the season. He is one RBI shy of 100 for his career.
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Zak Whalin collected career hit number 50.
• This is the seventh time in 14 games the Mules have scored at least 10 runs. They are 7-0 in such games.
Up Next
• The Mules will finish up the series with two games tomorrow against the RiverHawks starting at 12 p.m.
