Fayette, Mo. - The No. 4 Central Methodist baseball program won the Heart regular season conference crown, defeating Clarke University in a best two-of-three series by scores of 18-3 and 9-2 this weekend at Estes Field.
With the win, Central claims its fourth conference championship and its first since the 2018 season. The Eagles improve to 40-5 and 26-3 in the final standings, and will serve as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament this upcoming week in Ozark, Mo.
The Eagle bats were firing on all cylinders in a 15 run victory over the Pride in game one. Kenny Otero led the bats with a new career high five hits and four runs socred.
Sergio Macias had an outsanding game at the plate, finishing the afternoon batting four-of-five with seven RBI, tying a career high, including a three-run home run in the sixth.
Mason Schwellenbach also had an impressive outing, hitting a grand slam to clear the bases in the eighth. Devon Garcia and Logan McDonald each picked up three hits, while Garcia recorded a triple and drew a walk.
Overall, Central picked up 22 hits including six that were for extra bases. Nick Merkel got the start on the bump, tossing eight complete innings and giving up only three earned runs on seven hits with a new career-high 14 strikeouts.
Tyler Vicars pitched the final inning, striking out two batters.
CMU needed only a win in the second game of the series Saturday to clinch the regular season crown. The Eagles jump out in front in the first inning with four runs, highlighted by the second grand slam from Schwellenbach in as many games.
The third inning saw leadoff home runs from both Macias and Schwellenbach, followed by a two run home run from Max McCay to push CMU's lead to 8-1. McCay put the finishing touches on the victory with his second home run of the day in the eighth inning.
Schwellenbach sent a new program record for single season wins by a starting pitcher with his 11th victory of the season Saturday. The previous record was held by Kyle Fulton, Dariel Checo, and Jeff King (10). He tossed 6.2 innings and gave up only one earned run on four hits including 11 strikeouts.
The Eagles will now look to postseason play, making the short trip to Springfield, Mo. for the Heart Conference tournament beginning Thursday, May 7 at 5:00 p.m. in Ozark, Mo.
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