Fayette, Mo. - The No. 7 Central Methodist baseball program won the final two games of the series against Missouri Valley College Sunday afternoon, winning game one 8-7 followed by a 15-10 victory in game two.
With the two Sunday victories, Central improves its overall record to 27-6 and 13-3 in conference play. The Vikings fall to 11-20 and 4-12 in the Heart.
CMU's game one victory marked the 300th career win for Head Coach Nate Breland. Breland has averaged nearly 34 wins/season in each of his first full nine seasons at the helm. He has led the Eagles to two Heart regular championships and two conference tournament titles, including five appearances in the NAIA National Tournament.
Tied at 7-7 in the bottom of the seventh of game one, pinch hitter Khalil Thrasher drew a walk with two outs. Thrasher was followed by Logan McDonald who hit a deep triple to right field to bring pinch runner Josh Green from first all the way home for the walk-off victory.
Tanner Sears and Cole Luedeking led the Eagle bats with two hits including a triple and a home run each. Tommaso Giarola and Robbie Merced recorded solo home runs and Terry Tolliver Jr. and McDonald each picked up sacrifice flies. Merced has now tied the single-season home run record (20), set by both Logan Haring and Sergio Macias in 2021.
Beau Atkins got the start on the bump, tossing five complete innings and giving up two earned runs with three strikeouts. Sophomore Nino Puckett picked up the victory, pitching the final two innings and earning his second win of 2022.
The Eagles capped the series with a wild game four finish. With both teams tied at 6-6 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, CMU scored nine runs on four hits and an error to take a commanding 15-6 lead. The Vikings responded with three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh, but could not close the gap any further, as CMU went on to earn the 15-10 victory.
The trio of Thrasher, McDonald and Luedeking finished game four with three hits apiece in addition to two RBI. Luedeking recorded two doubles while senior catcher Jeff Vance drove in two base runners.
Overall, Central scored 15 runs on 15 hits and capitlized on four Vikings' miscues.
Ryan Jeffers started the series finale, throwing four innings with three K's. Tyler Vicars closed the game out through the final three frames of work, matching Jeffers with three strikeouts.
The Eagles head out on the road for a four-game series against Mount Mercy beginning Saturday, April 9 at 1:00 p.m. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Congrats on 300!!! pic.twitter.com/I5ez82SxZq
— Central Methodist Baseball (@CMU_BASEBALL) April 3, 2022
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