BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – With only four regular season games remaining in the final week, the Central Methodist University Eagles baseball team gained control of its destiny Sunday by blanking Baker University twice, 6-0 and 6-0, at Sauder Field.
The shutouts – the second and third straight for the Eagles – gave CMU (36-12) a one-game lead in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Southern Division with a 20-8 mark heading into the stretch run. Benedictine College (30-19) now sits 19-9 in league play, one game back of the Eagles. MidAmerica Nazarene University (27-15) is 17-11 and three games behind Central Methodist.
Baker University dropped to 15-33 on the season and 8-20 in the Southern Division. The Wildcats are in sixth place, 12 games out of first.
CMU received strong pitching performances on Sunday, as Chris Danielson (SR/Saugus, Calif.) (left photo) threw a complete-game one-hitter in the opener to improve his season mark to 5-1. He struck out seven and walked only one. Cole Nonweiler (JR/Lakeville, Minn.) and Kyle Fulton (JR/Monroe City, Mo.) combined for the victory in Game 2. Nonweiler (1-1) pitched 1.1 innings, giving up three hits, while fanning one. Fulton (right photo) then came out of the bullpen and worked the final 5.2 frames, allowing no runs on two hits, with eight strikeouts and one walk.
GAME 1 RECAP
The Eagles banged out 11 hits in the opener to support Danielson's outstanding pitching performance. Dustyn Macaluso (SR/Sacramento, Calif.) and Logan Haring (FR/DeKalb, Ill.) both went 3-for-4 in the game, with Macaluso connecting with a double and scoring a pair of runs, and Haring also hitting a double, while driving in three runs. Quinn Conley (SR/Thousand Oaks, Calif.) had a 2-for-3 game, with a pair of runs scored.
Brandon Alcala (JR/Alameda, Calif.) also recorded a double in the contest, with Fernando Villegas (JR/Hutchinson, Minn.) and Zach Beckner (SR/Versailles, Kent.) adding singles. Beckner drove in a pair of runs, while scoring himself.
Jamaal Rashad was the only Baker player to record a hit. Kekai Rivera-Albeso (2-5) was the losing pitcher for the Wildcats. He pitched four innings, allowing six runs on nine hits, with three strikeouts and a walk.
CMU took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and then added another run in the third and three more in the fifth frame to ice the game.
GAME 2 RECAP
Conley had another strong game at the dish in Game 2, finishing 3-for-4, with a RBI and a run scored. Jared Johnson (JR/DeKalb, Ill.) went 2-for-4, with a pair of stolen bases and a run scored. Haring was 2-for-3, with a double and a run scored.
Beckner connected with a home run, finishing with two RBIs and a run scored. Alcala also homered, finishing 1-for-3, with two runs batted in and a run scored.
Damon Nolan led Baker with a 2-for-4 game. Gage Kiesling (1-6) took the loss for the Wildcats on the hill. In 3.2 innings he allowed five runs on seven hits, with a walk.
WHAT'S UP NEXT FOR THE EAGLES?
Tuesday's CMU twinbill at home against Harris-Stowe State University has been cancelled and will not be made up. Central Methodist will return to the field on Friday and Saturday when the Eagles wrap up the regular season at home, taking on Missouri Valley College in a four-game series at Estes Field. Doubleheaders will begin at 1 p.m. on both days.
CMU Baseball Contact: John Krueger
Phone: 936-332-9332 | jkrueger@centralmethodist.edu
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Website: www.CMUEagles.com
