MNU took Game 1, but lost late in Game 2 for a road split at CMU on Saturday.
Clayton Brandt led off the first game with a solo homer, and the Pioneers scored again on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead. Starting pitcher
Phillipe Graham found trouble in the bottom of the first, but a double play and a strikeout ended the threat. In the bottom of the fifth, the Eagles had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, but a grounder to 1st confused the baserunners and resulted in a 3-6-2-5-1 double play to eliminate the threat. MNU added a run in the top of the seventh to take a 3-1 lead, and CMU scored a run and had 2 runners on with 2 outs in the bottom of the inning. But Graham got out of it and MNU held on for a 3-1 victory. Graham struck out 6 for his second straight complete game victory. And
Clayton Brandt (4-4, R, 2B, HR, RBI) had 4 hits.
In Game 2, MNU took a 2-0 lead in the second when
Kelvin Perez singled with the bases loaded. And RBI groundout in the fifth gave MNU a 3-0 lead, but CMU hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning to close the gap. The Pioneers picked up 1 in the sixth, but CMU took the lead with 1 in the sixth and 3 in the seventh. A
Santiago Romero solo homer in the eighth cut the defict to 6-5, but the Pioneers couldn't get any more and settled for the split.
Carlos Vargas (2-4),
Seth Lieser (3-4, R),
Santiago Romero (1-3, R, HR, RBI, Sac), and
Kelvin Perez (1-4, 2 RBI, SB) led the offense.
MNU is 15-9 (3-3 HAAC). The next game is a 7 inning/9 inning double header on Tuesday at home vs. Missouri Valley (8-6, 1-3) at 1:00.
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