Jarid Renzelman's 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th gave MNU a 5-4 victory in Game 1 of a double header vs. Central Methodist on Friday. But the Pioneers lost the second game 4-3 in 9 innings and came away with a split.
In Game 1, junior righthander Kent Swanson gave up a homer in each of the first two innings as MNU fell behind 3-0. But Swanson held CMU scoreless for the next 5 innings as MNU tried to come back. The Pioneers cut into the lead in the bottom of the 4th when they loaded the bases with no outs. A double play brought in the first run, and Dave Staton's clutch RBI double scored another run to make it 3-2. The Pioneers tied the game in the 6th when AJ Nunley beat out a routine grounder to short with the bases loaded and 2 outs, and the game went into extra innings. Swanson pitched into the 8th and allowed 3 hits as CMU took a 1-run lead. In the bottom of the inning, Donnie MacLeod led off with a single up the middle, and Renzelman drilled the first pitch he saw onto the football field beyond the right behind fence to win the game. Swanson moves to 2-0 as he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts in 8 innings. Renzelman (3-4, R, HR, 2 RBI) had 3 of MNU's 8 hits.
In Game 2, four Pioneer errors allowed CMU a big 3rd inning which was the difference in the game. With the game tied at 1, consecutive two-out run-scoring errors gave the Eagles a 3-1 lead. The Pioneers scored an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead in half, but found themselves still trailing by 1 in the bottom of the 7th. With 2 outs and pinch runner Mason Lent on second, Kirk Nungester's swinging bunt was mishandled by the catcher, who threw low to first. The first baseman dropped to his knees to block the ball, and Lent never slowed around third and easily beat the throw back to the plate to tie the game. CMU scored another unearned run in the top of the 9th, and the Pioneers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to fall 4-3. Kyle Segraves (2-5, 2B) had two hits for the Pioneers.
MNU moves to 10-11 (3-3 HAAC) on the season. The next game is a double header on Tuesday vs. MO Valley (3-9, 3-5) at 1 pm.
