(MANKATO, Minn.) – The season closed Saturday for the 12th-ranked Central Missouri Mules following a 4-1 loss to Southern Arkansas at the NCAA-II Central Baseball Regional at Franklin Rogers Park.
The Mules end the season at 36-13.
Southern Arkansas (42-16) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Jason Dahl led off the inning with a double and came around to score on Brady Capshaw’s RBI single to left. Tyler Cameron brought home Capshaw with a single up the middle to give the Muleriders the early lead.
SAU extended the lead to 4-0 with a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the third. Jackson McCurdy singled and then came around to score on Cameron’s double to left. An error on the relay throw allowed Cameron to move to third, which proved big as he scored on Ryan Bell’s infield single to make it 4-0.
The Mules were being no-hit through 5 1/3 innings before Samuel Domingue broke up the no-hitter with a bunt single. He advanced to second on a balk and scored on Kyle Grieshaber‘s single to left field. The Muleriders prevented a big inning from happening one batter earlier when Bell made a great diving catch on Chase Graskewicz‘s line drive near the warning track in left center to record the second out of the inning.
UCM put two runners in scoring position with two outs in the eighth on a single by Graskewicz and a double by Brad Wilson, but a groundout ended the scoring threat. The Mules got a two-out single from Trevor Jones in the ninth, but that was all they could muster.
Timothy Buchanan (10-1) earned the complete game win for the Muleriders. He scattered seven hits and allowed just one run while striking out three and walking two.
Chris Fitzpatrick (3-1) took the loss for UCM after giving up four runs, three earned, on eight hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one. Jake Heissler scattered six hits over 5 1/3 innings of relief. He fanned four and didn’t walk a batter.
Jones finished the day 2-for-3 as the Mules were held to seven hits. John Oropeza finished the season with 20 doubles, the 11th most in a single-season in UCM history. He moved into a tie for ninth on the school’s all-time doubles list with 48.
The 36 wins are the fewest in a season since the Mules had 24 in the 1993 season and snapped a streak of 14 consecutive seasons with 40 or more wins.