Ozark, Mo. - The No. 1 seeded Central Methodist baseball program began Heart tournament play with a 2-1 victory over Benedictine College Friday night in Ozark, Mo. 

With the win, Central advances to face the winner of MNU/Baker Saturday night at 5:00 p.m., improving their overall mark to 41-5. Benedictine moves to the consolation side of the bracket. 

The game was a pitcher's duel from start to finish, as both squads combined to score just three runs on eight hits. Central jumped out in front with a run in the first inning courtesy of a wild pitch from Benedictine which scored Deshawn Cole from third. 

The Ravens evened the scored in the fourth on an RBI double down the left-field line. Both sides remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the seventh inning.

Heart Player of the Year Sergio Macias led off with a walk before Mason Schwellenbach got on base via a fielder's choice. Raul Cosme then entered the game as a pinch-runner to provide speed on the base paths. 

Sophomore infielder Logan McDonald singled to left and a misplayed grounder by the Ravens' left fielder gave Cosme the opportunity to come around and score, giving CMU a 2-1 lead. 

The Central pitching staff held Benedictine scoreless through the final two innings, picking up a narrow 2-1 win in the conference tournament opener. 

Schwellenbach earned his 12th win of the season, throwing seven innings on the bump. The Saginaw, Mich. native gave up one earned run on four hits paired with eight strikeouts. Beau Atkins tossed the final two innings, not conceding a hit and striking out five batters. 

Max McCay led the offense batting two-for-three, while McDonald and Otero each collected one hit. 

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