The second-ranked Central Missouri Mules lived up to their ranking Saturday afternoon as they took two games from the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, 8-1 and 3-1 at Bearcat Field.

Northwest fell to 5-14 on the season and 4-7 in MIAA play while the Mules improved to 15-1 overall and 10-1 in league play.

In the opener, the Mules jumped out to an early lead on the Bearcats pushing two runs across the plate in the first.

Central Missouri would plate six runs in the top of the third to give them the 8-0 lead.

A Jake Kretzer double in the bottom of the seventh would score the only Bearcat run of the game as he would bring in Tyler Durant who had led off the inning with a single down the right field line.

Solid pitching by the Mules would silence the Bearcat bats allowing just four Northwest hits.

Jace Anderson would take the loss for the Bearcats on the mound.

In game two, Chase Anderson was a force to be reckoned with on the mound as he would go 6.0 innings while allowing nine hits and striking out one.

Central Missouri would again strike early as they plated one run in the first and another in the third to take the 2-0 lead.

Tyler Durant tripled to start the Northwest part of the fourth.  Steven Garber would follow Durant’s triple with a single up the middle to score Durant bringing the Bearcats within one.

Central Missouri would tack on more run in the seventh giving them the 3-1 advantage.

A Bearcat comeback was not in the cards as Northwest would strand three base runners in the bottom of the seventh giving the Mules the 3-1 win.

Ryan Abernathy and Tyler Durant would each record two hits for the Bearcats in the loss.

Up Next: The Bearcats and Mules conclude their four-game series Sunday afternoon with first pitch from Bearcat Field slated for noon.

— NWMSU Sports Information —