Fayette, Mo. - The No. 4 Central Methodist baseball program sent its senior class out on a high note with a four game series sweep of Baker University this past weekend in Fayette, Mo.
CMU took the first two games by scores of 3-1 and 8-2, followed by a 17-7 victory in game three Sunday. The Eagles cruised to a 19-6 win in the series finale, sending their senior class out on in style. 16 seniors were honored after Sunday's doubleheader. Together, the seniors have compiled 172 wins to date including a Heart regular season championship in 2018 and three straight trips to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round (2017-19).
Central improves its overall record 38-5 and 24-3 in the Heart, while Baker drops to 17-27 and 10-18 in conference play.
Baker jumped out in front in game one in the third inning, but Central responded with three runs in the next half inning, highlighted by an RBI double from Kenny Otero. The CMU pitching staff held Baker scoreless for the remainder of the game to pick up a 3-1 victory.
Junior ace Nick Merkel pitched a gem on the bump, tossing all seven innings and giving up only one earned run on five hits with eight strikeouts.
The Eagles' bats picked up offensively in game two, scoring a pair of runs in the second and five in the third. Sergio Macias crushed a solo home run on the first pitch he saw, along with RBI singles from Devon Garcia and Kenny Otero. Grant Victor sealed the six run victory for CMU with a sacrifice fly that scored Winston Welter in the sixth inning.
Mason Schwellenbach led the offense batting three-of-four including a double. Garcia, Logan McDonald and Otero finished the game with two hits apiece, while Otero drove in three runners.
Schwellenbach earned his 10th win of the year as the starting pitcher, throwing six complete innings and striking out nine batters.
The offense exploded for 17 runs in the first game Sunday afternoon, including a seven run first inning, five in the fourth and fourth in the sixth. Logan Haring, Macias, McDonald, Max McCay and Deshawn Cole each collected home runs. Both McDonald and Macias highlighted the game, as each cleared the bases with grand slams in the first and sixth innings resectively.
Overall, Central finished the game with 15 hits including eight extra base hits and eight walks. Haring finished the game drawing three walks. Otero picked up the win, pitching five innings and giving up only two earned runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts. Felix Pena Tyler Vicars, and Ryan Jeffers also made appearances on the bump for CMU.
The offense kept rolling in the finale, as the Eagles scored 19 runs on 18 hits. Adrian Martinez hit a grand slam in the sixth inning, and both Haring and Macias picked up two home runs apiece. The trio of Martinez, Haring, and Macias recorded four RBI, whole Otero collected three.
Haring also set a new personal best with his 18th home run of the season, the best of his career in a single season as an Eagle. He continues to add to his all-time home run record as the senior now has 52 home runs in 228 games played.
Vicars got the win in the finale, throwing 2.1 innings and striking out three batters.
The Eagles will play for the Heart Regular Season Championship against Clarke University in a best-of-three game series. The first nine-inning game will take place Friday, April 30 at 3:00 p.m. at Estes Field.
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