Sterlington, La. - The No. 22 Central Methodist Baseball team opened the Cajun Collision with a pair of wins Thursday afternoon in Sterlington, La. 

Central began the day with a narrow 7-6 victory over (RV) Oregon Tech, before securing a come from behind victory over Texas A&M Texarkana, 8-3.

Highlighting the first four innings for CMU against Oregon Tech was a two-run home from Jeremy Conforti to left centerfield in the third inning. Central found themselves tied at 4-4 entering the top of the fifth. 

In the top half of the frame, the Eagles put their first two batters on base via a single from Valentin Cerna Jr. following Tanner Sears reaching first on a hit by pitch.

Following a strikeout in the following at-bat, Carlos Negron hit a home run to right centerfield to plate three runs and put CMU out in front, 7-4. 

OTI scored runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but could not bring the game tying run across. 

Cerna Jr. batted three-for-four with two runs scored and an RBI single. Negron and Bobby Nichols each recorded a pair of hits, including the go ahead three-run home run from Negron. 

Sebastian Escobar earned his second win of the year on the bump, pitching five complete innings. Escobar gave up three earned runs on five hits and a pair of walks while striking out seven batters. 

Marcus Pritchard came in relief for the final two innings, picking up two Ks and earning his first save of the year. 

Against Texarkana, Central trailed 1-0 through the first three innings. CMU's offense broke through in the fourth, plating three runs on three hits. 

Tanner Sears recorded an RBI double to score Cerna Jr. from third, before Negron smashed his second home run of the day to plate a pair of runs and put CMU out in front, 3-1. 

In the following inning, Nichols recorded his first home run of the year, driving in two additional runs

Texarka would respond with a pair of runs in the following half inning to trim Central's lead to 5-3. 

CMU would then plate a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Peyton Becker, before Negron closed the door with a two-run home run, his third of the day. 

Ray Ochoa got the start on the bump, tossing four innings and allowing one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts. 

Alexander Billo came in relief in the fifth, while Alfred Ulloa closed the game out in the final two innings. 

CMU will next take on No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett Friday, Feb. 9 at 9:30 a.m., followed by LSU-Alexandria at 12:30 p.m. to close out the Collision. 

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