The Pioneers held a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning, but Central Methodist rallied and came away with a 6-5 victory over the Pioneers in the first game of the HAAC Conference Tournament on Wednesday.
Box and Play by Play CMU starter Drew Greiwe and MNU starter
Kyle Olson dominated the early innings. With the score tied at 0 in the top of the fourth,
Kyle Segraves and
Derek Glenn managed back-to-back singles to start the inning. After 2 flyouts, MNU had runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. A double steal pushed across the first run, and the Pioneers led 1-0. In the top of the fifth,
Alex Murrieta led off with a walk and a
Josh Greer single put runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs. The Pioneers ran the double steal play again and were about to score again. When the dust settled, Greer was on 3rd and scored on a wild pitch to put MNU up 3-0. The Eagles answered with a single run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Pioneers went back up by 3 when Greer doubled to lead off the seventh and scored on a
Kevin Liddle single.
With a 4-1 lead in the eighth, the Pioneers started to let the Eagles back in it. The first batter was hit by a pitch, and one out later an error put runners on 1st and 2nd. After a great at bat, CMU's Neil DeMartin singled to load the bases and chase Olson from the game. A double down the left field line cleared the bases and tied the game, and 2 more consecutive doubles put the Eagles up 6-4 heading to the ninth.
Ben Alison led off with a single, and
Josh Greer eventually brought him home with a sacrifice fly to the warning track, but the Pioneers couldn't tie the game and lost 6-5. Greer (2-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI, SF, 2 SB) led the offense.
The Pioneers are 38-13 (19-7). The next game is Thursday in St. Joseph vs. Avila (38-12, 19-7) at 3:30 PM.
