Ozark, Mo. - Behind a complete game shut out from senior Beau Atkins, the No. 3 seeded Central Methodist baseball team knocked off No. 2 seeded Clarke University, 5-0 on day two of the Heart Conference Baseball Tournament Saturday night in Ozark, Mo. 

With the win, the Eagles improve their overall record to 40-12 and continue to advance in the winner's bracket. Clarke falls to 36-15 and now move to the loser's bracket. 

Both sides remained scoreless through the first two innings of play, before Central plated three runs in the third. Tommaso Giarola started the scoring with an RBI-double to right center, scoring Logan McDonald. An RBI-triple from Robbie Merced scored Giarola from second, before Tanner Sears singled through the right side to score Merced. 

Leading 3-0 in the seventh, Bobby Nichols would extend CMU's lead on an RBI-single. The Eagle's final run of the day came in the eighth, courtesy of an RBI-single from Jeff Vance. 

Overall, Central scored its five runs on 11 hits including one error by the Pride defense. 

Atkins had one of his best outings of the year, pitching all nine innings for the Eagles and giving up no runs on seven hits. In addition, he struck out nine batters for his ninth win of the year. 

The Eagles will next face No. 1 seed MNU Sunday, May 8 at 5:00 p.m. 

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