Fayette, Mo. - The No. 8 Central Methodist baseball team took the first two games of a four-game series against Graceland, winning game one 10-2 followed by a 2-0 shut out in the second game Monday afternoon at Estes Field.
With the pair of victories, Central improves to 16-3 and 2-0 in the Heart, while Graceland falls to 6-12 and 0-3 in conference play.
The Eagle's offense jumped out in front with seven runs in the first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from Robbie Merced and solo home runs from Jeff Vance and Grant Victor.
Central pushed its lead to 9-2 after Merced's second home run of the day, followed by an RBI double from Tommaso Giarola to score Bobby Nichols.
Merced's bat remained hot as he tallied his third home run in the sixth inning to cement a 10-2 victory for Central. Senior Beau Atkins tossed six complete innings, giving up only two earned runs on three hits with 11 strikeouts. He is now a perfect 3-0 on the early season.
Anthony G. Rodriguez came in relief for the final inning of work, retiring the side in order including one strikeout. Merced had a monster day at the plate for Central, batting .375 with three home runs and five runs driven in.
Tanner Sears, Vance, and Grant Victor all picked up two hits including solo home runs for both Vance and Victor. Overall, the Central bats finished the game with 10 runs on 13 hits with five walks.
Game two was a pitcher's duel, as both pitchers combined for just two runs on seven hits. Central took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run from Tommaso Giarola followed by Merced's fourth home run of the series in the fourth inning.
Sebastian Escobar was masterful on the mound for Central, as the native of Monteria, Colombia tossed a complete game shut out. He gave up only two hits against 24 batters faced including 11 strikeouts en route to his fifth win of the season.
CMU will conclude the series against the Yellowjackets with the final two games Tuesday, March 15 beginning at 12:00 p.m. at Estes Field.
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