WARRENSBURG, Missouri – It was not a good Friday for the Northwest Missouri State University baseball team as the Central Missouri Mules hit a walk-off solo homer to lead off the ninth and post a 9-8 triumph over the Bearcats.
Northwest held a 3-2 lead in the third and pushed the advantage to 7-3 with a four-run fourth. UCM rallied for a four-spot in the seventh only to see Northwest retake the lead at 8-7 in the eighth.
However, UCM tied it up in the eighth and then Cole Taylor led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run to right field for the 9-8 Mule victory.
Northwest’s Connor Quick recorded a season-high six RBI, including a grand slam in the fourth. Quick extended his hitting streak to 16 games in a row and he has reached base in 23 straight games. He has a team-best 21 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI contests. Quick is batting .391 on the season, and has knocked in a team-high 35 runs.
UCM scored single runs in the first and second to take a 2-0 lead through two innings.
The Bearcats took their first lead of the contest with three runs in the third. A walk and two errors on bunt plays allowed Northwest to score its first run. Quick knocked in his first run of the game with an RBI single to left that scored Logan Rycraft. Alixon Herrera ground out to third but Calvin Rudolph scored on the play to give Northwest a 3-2 advantage.
UCM evened the matchup at 3-3 in the third on a leadoff homer from Erik Webb.
Quick’s two-out grand slam in the fourth gave Northwest a 7-3 advantage. UCM managed a single in the fifth and two base hits in the sixth but could not claw closer in those two stanzas. However, Northwest was unable to build on the four-run lead as the Bearcats had only one hit in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings – a two-out double from Mondesi Gutierrez in the seventh.
Northwest starter Quintin Van Ackeren went six strong innings and gave up eight hits and three runs. But the Bearcat bullpen and defense could not hold off the Mules.
Bearcat reliever Alex Slocum retired only one batter, while UCM loaded the bases as the result of an error in centerfield and two hit batters. Gibson Brown inherited the bases loaded situation with one out. Brown induced a sacrifice fly but could not escape the jam as he allowed a two-RBI single and an RBI double that equaled the score at 7-7.
Northwest would regain the lead again in the eighth on when Quick reached on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. A Matt Gastner single, a Derek Hussey single and a Rycraft walk loaded the bases. Quick hit a ground ball to shortstop but the Mules could not turn the double play and Gastner hustled home to give Northwest an 8-7 lead with six outs to play.
UCM Erik Webb led off the bottom half of the eight with a triple and scored on the ensuing at-bat – a single to center that again evened the matchup at 8-8. Northwest’s Ethan Griswold came in to relieve Brown and was able to wriggle free with a pickoff and a strikeout.
Northwest went down in order in the ninth, setting the stage for the Mules Taylor to hit the walk-off game winner.
UCM is 27-12 overall and 18-8 in MIAA play, while Northwest is 18-21 overall and 14-12 in league action.
The teams will meet in the rubber match of the three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Warrensburg.
— Northwest Athletics —