Pesota, Iowa - The No. 24 Central Methodist Baseball program completed their weekend road series against Clarke University with a Saturday afternoon doubleheader in Iowa.
Central's offense carried them to a 20-0 victory in game three of the series, before Clarke salvaged a win in the finale by a final score of 7-5.
CMU is now 17-9 and 11-5 in the Heart of America, while Clarke stands at 12-13 and 6-6 in conference action.
Game 1: No. 24 CMU 20 - Clarke 0
Central got their first three runs on the board in the top of the first, as Tanner Sears doubled to bring in Kyle Williams followed by a Carlos Negron single to make it a 2-0 game.
The third run of the inning came on an error by the Pride's shortstop..
Sears tallied his second RBI of the day on a groundout to second base, bringing home Valentin Cerna Jr. from third in the fourth inning.
The following inning, the Eagles scored six unanswered runs, with all four of them coming on singles from Gavin Whitehurst, Zeb Wede, Cerna Jr., and Williams.
With Central holding a 10-0 lead in the sixth, they added nine runs in the inning to increase their lead.
Negron, Cerna Jr., and Sears all went yard, with Cerna Jr. cashing in four runs on a grand slam.
CMU added one more in the final inning with Aaron Guess Jr. scoring on a wild pitch to increase the Eagles lead to 20, completing their third double-digit victory of the season.
Marcos Lopez was outstanding on the mound, pitching five shut out innings and allowing just three hits while striking out nine.
Vince Ray and Alfred Ulloa both came in and each tossed in an inning in relief to preserve the shutout.
Game 2: Clarke 7 - No. 24 CMU 5
The Eagles jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first off a miscue by the Pride's defense.
Clarke's bats, however, wasted no time in responding with four runs in the bottom half to gain a three-run advantage.
The Eagles cut the deficit to one after adding two more runs in the second to make it a 4-3 game.
Clarke got those two runs back in a hurry by notching two of their own in the second to regain a three-run lead at 6-3.
With the Eagles down four in the fourth, Central managed to produce two more runs courtesy of RBI singles from Ryan Malzah and Negron.
Clarke's pitching held the Eagles to three straight scoreless innings immediately after, securing their lone win of the four-game series.
Up Next:
Central will return home for only the second time this season for a four-game weekend series against William Penn University Saturday, March 29. First pitch of game one at Estes Field is set for 1:00 p.m.
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