Ozark, Mo. - The No. 3 seeded Central Methodist baseball team knocked off No. 1 MNU in the semifinals of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, 14-3, Sunday night in Ozark, Mo. 

With the win, the Eagles improve to 41-12 overall, and punch their ticket to the Heart tournament championship for the second-straight season. In addition, CMU has secured an automatic berth into the National Tournament with the win. MNU moves to the losers bracket, and will face No. 2 seeded Clarke in an elimination game Monday morning. 

The Eagles opened the game with a run in the first inning and five in the second. The second inning featued a bases loaded walk, followed by an error by the MNU catcher to bring home Logan McDonald from third. After a wild pitch that scored Bobby Nichols, Robbie Merced doubled to right field to score Tommaso Giarola. 

Tanner Sears concluded the inning with an RBI-single to right field, giving Central a 6-0 lead after two innings. CMU then plated two more runs in the fifth to take an 8-0 lead. MNU answered with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to trim the lead to 8-2. 

A Merced single through the left side of the field scored Nichols in the sixth. CMU would drive four more runs in the seventh and a run in the eighth. MNU tacked on their third and final run in the ninth, but could not cut the defecit any further, as Central went on to earn a 14-3 victory. 

Merced batted a perfect four-for-four incuding a double and four RBI. McDonald, Sears, and Nichols picked up two hits apiece. 

Sebastian Escobar was masterful on the bump, tossing eight complete innings and giving up just two earned runs on seven hits. Escobar also struck out 10 batters, his second highest total this season. 

Ryan Jeffers came in relief for the final inning, giving up just one run with a pair of strikeouts. 

Central will face the winner of No. 1 MNU and No. 2 Clarke in the championship game Monday, May 9 at 2:00 p.m. 

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