MWSU rallies past Central Missouri to qualify for MIAA baseball tournament

ST. JOSEPH – With Sunday’s results from around the MIAA, Missouri Western (20-22, 17-16 MIAA) needed to defeat regular season conference champion Central Missouri (34-13, 24-9 MIAA) in the final game of the season to secure a spot in the MIAA Championships. Despite dropping the first two games of the weekend, the Griffons came out on top in the most important game of the series, beating the Mules 11-8 on Sunday afternoon.

The Griffons flipped the switch offensively, pouring in the most runs they have had in their last 11 games. The deciding runs in Sunday’s game came in the seventh and eighth innings, when Missouri Western scored eight of its 11 runs.

NOTABLES

Central Missouri took the first lead of the game for the third time in the series with three runs in the top of the first inning.
Dusty Stroup put the Griffons on the board in his first plate appearance with a solo home run in the bottom of the first.
With bases loaded and two outs in the fourth, Conrad McMahon’s infield single scored Fahd Shakeel and Will Jibas to bring the Griffons within one at 4-3.
The Mules extended their lead to 5-3 in the seventh inning with an RBI double down the left-field line.
Shakeel’s two-RBI single to right field cut the deficit to just 5-4 in the seventh inning.
After a UCM wild pitch scored another Griffon run, Wyatt Meyer drove in two runs with a single down the left-field line.
A three-run homer in the eighth swung the lead back to the Mules at 8-7.
Brooks Day answered with a three-run blast of his own, putting Missouri Western up 11-8 in the bottom of the eighth.
Stroup, Day, and Shakeel all finished with two or more hits in four plate appearances.
After starting yesterday’s game, Jacob Purl pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.
The Griffons’ 11 runs scored against Central Missouri on Sunday are the most the Mules have allowed in their last 14 games.

UP NEXT

Griffon Baseball won’t have to wait long for another crack at Central Missouri. Just four days after the two finished a three-game series in St. Joseph, Missouri Western will face off with the regular season MIAA Champions in the first round of the MIAA Baseball Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas.
The Griffons’ comeback win over the Mules on Sunday clinched the eighth and final seed for Missouri Western. They’ll open postseason play against Central Missouri on Thursday at 4 p.m. All games of the MIAA Championships will be played at Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg. All eight teams play one game in the double-elimination tournament on Thursday. The Griffons will either play No. 4 seed Pittsburg State or No. 5 seed Emporia State on Friday at either 12:30 or 7:30 p.m.

The complete bracket and other information can be found on the MIAA Baseball Championship Central page.

— MWSU Athletics —