No. 8 Central Missouri put together a two-run ninth inning to sneak a win past No. 6 Missouri Western Sunday afternoon at Griffon Spring Sports Complex.
Missouri Western fell behind 4-1 after three innings, but the Griffons dominated the middle of the game with a two-run fourth inning and two-run eighth inning, taking a 5-4 lead.
Spencer Shockley singled to left center and Grant Fink followed with a double in the bottom of the fourth. Jimmy Smelcer hit a single to score Shockley, and on the next bat Jake Schrader doubled to draw within one.
After three scoreless inning, Bubba Dotson tripled to score Michael Schulze and tie the game at four. Kyle Simpson singled up the middle for the go-ahead run, but the Mules got out of the inning down by just one run.
Behind 5-4, UCM had two outs before Mules designated hitter Barrett Noirfalise singled to left field. On the next bat second baseman Jon Cotter doubled to right field to score Noirfalise.
Samuel Domingue, the Mules No. 1 batter singled to shortstop and after the bases were loaded, Logan Hollingsworth, who picked up his first loss of the season, walked Kyle Grieshaber, who had the only home run in the game — a two-run blast in the third inning — to take the 6-5 lead.
Still, the Griffons had a chance to pick up the victory in the bottom of the ninth. Fink singled and Smelcer walked to bring to runners on with no outs. But after Payton Scarbrough fouled a bunt attempt to first baseman John Oropeza, Shawn Egge grounded out to the pitcher to move the runners to second and third base. But Mules pitcher Zach Davis struck out Michael Schulze to end the game.
Central improves to 31-9 and 25-8 in the conference, while Missouri Western still leads the MIAA with a 32-7 record overall and 26-4 in the conference. The Mules also won game two on Saturday, giving the Griffons their first back-to-back losses since opening weekend, when the Griffons dropped two straight to Arkansas Tech.
Several Griffons had multiple hits on the day. Shockley, Simpson and Fink all went 2-for-4. Smelcer was 2-for-3. The Griffons had 11 hits and the Mules finished with nine.
Next up for the Griffons is a doubleheader set for Wednesday night against Washburn. Times are scheduled for 4 and 6 p.m. It will be the final home games of the regular season.
— MWSU Sports Information —