Marshall, Mo. - The No. 6 Central Methodist Baseball team completed a four-game weekend series sweep against Missouri Valley College last weekend in Marshall, Missouri.
With the sweep, Central improves to 34-7 and 20-4 in the Hear of America. Missouri Valley falls to 14-26 and 3-21 in conference action.
Game 1: No. 6 CMU 12 - Missouri Valley 3
Central plated 12 runs on 14 hits including eight for extra bases in the series opener.
Tanner Sears batted a perfect four-for-four with a single, a double, and a solo home run. Zeb Wede smashed a pair of solo home runs, while Jeremy Conforti picked up a home run in the fifth.
Carlos Negron hit a two-run home run in the top of the third inning. Altogether, seven different Eagles recorded at least one hit and drove in one runner.
Clayton Burke earned his eighth win of the year on the bump, throwing six complete innings and giving up three earned runs on six hits and a walk. He also struck out three batters.
Justin Stedry came in for the final inning of work, striking out one batter.
Game 2: No. 6 CMU 14 - Missouri Valley 3
After trailing 1-0 after the first, Central plated four runs in each of the next two innings to take an 8-1 lead. The Eagles would score six runs in the final three innnings to cruise past MVC in game two.
Bobby Nichols batted three-for-five with a pair of stolen bases and one run scored.
Valentin Cerna Jr., Wede, Peyton Becker, and David Soriano all recorded home runs, including two-run home runs for Soriano and Becker.
Sebastian Escobar got the start on the bump, throwing six and a third. He allowed three earned runs on five hits and a pair of walks. He finished game two with seven strikeouts en-route to his sixth win of the year.
Alexander Billo threw the final two thirds inning and kept MVC off the scoreboard.
Game 3: No. 6 CMU 9 - Missouri Valley 7
Sears had a monster game three Sunday, as he finished the day batting four-for-four with three home runs and six total RBI. Trailing 7-5 in the sixth, Becker hit a two-run home run left to tie the game at 7-7.
Sears' third and final home run of the day put Central out in front for good, making the score 9-7 in favor of CMU.
Foster Seitz pitched four complete innings before Marcus Pritchard threw the fifth. Pritchard earned the win, his third of the year. Larry Riddle Jr. picked up his second save of 2024, striking out three batters in two innings of work.
Game 4: No. 6 CMU 13 - Missouri Valley 3
Central ended the series with a bang, as the Eagles scored 11 runs in the opening inning of game four. Altogether, CMU plated 13 runs on 17 hits.
Negron highlighted the finale for the Eagles as he picked up two hits including a grand slam in the first inning. He finished the day with five RBI and two runs scored.
Wede homered to centerfield to score three, while Cerna Jr. drove in two runners on an RBI single and a ground out.
Nichols picked up two hits and also stole two bases. He is just two stolen bases shy of breaking the career program record of 111, which was originally set back in 1991.
Ray Ochoa earned his fourth win of the year, throwing five complete innings. Pritchard and Alfred Ulloa each tossed an inning to close the game out.
Up Next:
Central travels to Atchison, Kansas to face Benedictine College for a four-game weekend series beginning Saturday, April 20 at 1:00 p.m.
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