Atchison, Kan. - The No. 12 Central Methodist baseball program won the first two games of a four game series against Benedictine College Saturday afternoon in Atchison, Kan.
With the pair of victories, Central improves to 36-12 and 21-9 in the Heart. BC falls to 20-27 and 12-17 in conference action.
After a scoreless first two innings of play, the Eagles plated two runs in the third inning on back-to-back home runs from Bobby Nichols and Tommaso Giarola. It marked Nichols second home run of the season and Giarola's seventh.
Central added three more runs in the fifth inning, beginning with back-to-back walks from Robbie Merced and Tanner Sears. Junior Cole Luedeking then doubled to right centerfield to score Merced. Following a strikeout, senior Grant Victor doubled down the left field line to plate both Luedeking and pinch runner Gannon Ruckman.
Benedictine would answer in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly. However, that was the only run Benedictine could plate for the game, as CMU would go on to earn a 5-1 victory.
Senior ace Nick Merkel tossed a gem on the mound. The native of Spokane, Wash. pitched a complete game and gave up only one earned run on three hits with nine strikeouts. He brought his season win total to nine and 27 for his career as an Eagle, breaking the program record of 26 previously held by former teammate Mason Schwellenbach.
Victor, Sears, and Giarola all picked up two hits for the Eagles while Merced drew two walks. Merced also swiped two bases. Overall, Central scored its five runs on 11 hits and five walks.
CMU opened game two with six runs on four hits and one error by the Ravens defense in the top of the first. Benedictine cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second with three runs. The Ravens would tie the game at 6-6 in the fourth on four hits and two errors.
The Eagles regained the lead in the fifth on a fielder's choice from Sears which scored Merced from third. Holding a 7-6 advantage, CMU plated two runs in the next inning, first on an RBI-double to left from Nichols, and a bases loaded walk from Luedeking.
Benedictine would not go down quietly, as they scored twice in the sixth and were looking for more. With the bases loaded and two outs, sophomore pitcher Nino Puckett recorded the final out of the inning on a strikeout to get out of the jam.
CMU's final two runs came in the following half inning, starting with an RBI triple from Logan McDonald to right center. McDonald then stole home on the following play, making the final score 11-8 in favor of Central.
Beau Atkins earned his eighth win of 2022, tossing 4.2 innings and striking out six batters. Puckett earned his fifth save of the year, tossing 2.1 innings and giving up two earned runs with three K's.
The Eagles will conclude the series and the regular season against the Ravens Sunday, May 1 beginning at 12:00 p.m.
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