COLUMBIA, Mo. – Five members of the No. 10-ranked Central Methodist baseball team produced multiple hits and the Eagles used a six-run third and ninth innings Wednesday evening to secure a 12-5 victory over Columbia College at Thomas E. Atkins, Jr. Memorial Field. With the win, CMU improves to 28-8 on the year, 16-8 in road games.
Grant Dix (JR/Perryville, Mo.) (photo on right) propelled the red-hot CMU offense, which outhit the Cougars 14-5. Dix was a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish, scoring a pair of runs while driving in another and stealing a base. Matt Widhalm (SO/Columbia, Mo.) produced a 3-for-5 evening, connecting with a double and driving in two runs while scoring another.
Central Methodist's Brandon Alcala (JR/Alameda, Calif.) was 2-for-4, slamming a home run while driving in five runs and scoring two others, while Patrick Norris (JR/Greenwood, Ind.) sliced a triple and had a 2-for-5 game, with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Riley Richarz (JR/Milwaukee, Wisc.) was 2-for-5, with a double and two runs scored.
Dustyn Macaluso (SR/Sacramento, Calif.) and Logan Haring (FR/DeKalb, Ill.) both had one hit for CMU. Macaluso picked up a pair of RBIs and scored a run, while Haring plated twice.
Blade McKee, Ethan Howser and Andrew Warner all had one hit apiece to lead the Columbia College offense. Howser plated twice.
Josh Thomas (SR/Parker, Colo.) (photo on left) started the game on the hill for Central Methodist and picked up the victory to improve to 1-0. In 7.1 innings he gave up two runs on two hits, with four strikeouts and six walks. Ryan Franklin (SR/O'Fallon, Mo.) came out of the CMU bullpen, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out one in one inning. Chris Danielson (SR/Saugus, Calif.) did not give up a hit in 0.2-inning.
J.W. McGraw (2-1) was the losing pitcher for the Cougars, who fell to 26-13 on the year. In two innings he surrendered two runs on three hits.
WHAT'S UP NEXT FOR THE EAGLES?
Central Methodist will be at home on Friday and Saturday for a four-game series with league foe Evangel University. Friday's doubleheader has been pushed back to a 3 p.m. start, while Saturday's twinbill will get underway at 1 p.m.
CMU Baseball Contact: John Krueger
Phone: 936-332-9332 | jkrueger@centralmethodist.edu
CMU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook
CMU Baseball: Twitter
Website: www.CMUEagles.com
