San Antonio, Texas - The No. 2 Central Methodist baseball team completed the series sweep over (RV) Our Lady of the Lake with two wins over the Saints Saturday afternoon in San Antonio.
Central took game three of the series, 5-2 before closing the weekend out with a 9-2 victory in the finale. With the win, Central starts the 2022 campaign with a perfect 4-0 record, while the Saints fall to 1-6 overall.
In game three, the Eagles struck first in the first inning on a RBI single from Robbie Merced which scored Bobby Nichols. The Saints responded with a pair of runs in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead over Central. CMU would even the score in the fifth after an error by the OLLU infield to score Josh Green.
The Eagles tacked on three runs in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead. Pinch runner Terry Tolliver Jr. scored from third after a passed ball by the catcher followed by an RBI single from Cole Luedeking. Grant Victor brought in the final run of the inning on a bases loaded walk.
Beau Atkins came in relief for the final inning of work to preserve the 5-2 win and earn the save. Tanner Sears and Merced each collected two hits, while Luedeking drove in two runners.
Anthony G. Rodriguez got his first career start on the bump as an Eagle, tossing four complete innings and giving up two earned runs on four hits with one strikeout.
Sophomore Nino Puckett threw two innings and allowed only one hit, earning his first win of the year.
Central closed the series out with a 9-2 game four victory. CMU tallied runs in the first, third, fourth and sixth innings and held the Saints to just two runs.
Merced highlighted the Eagle bats with two hits including a three-run home run in the third inning. Luedeking also tallied two hits, both being RBI singles.
Nichols, Tommaso Giarola, and Raul Cosme also each collected an RBI. Brandon Tyler earned the game four start, tossing three and a third innings, giving up two earned runs while striking out five batters.
Ryan Jeffers also saw action on the mound in the middle innings, before Atkins closed out the game with three scoreless innings.
The Eagles are next set to compete in the Cajun Collision beginning Thursday, Feb. 10 in Sterlington, La.
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