TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State spent part of Saturday's action against #3 Central Missouri with the lead, but an explosive last four innings saw the Mules take a 19-14 result to clinch the series in two games.
After two errors set the stage for a pair of scores for the Mules (14-3, 4-1 MIAA) in the opening inning, the RiverHawks (9-9, 1-4 MIAA) responded with two home runs on back-to-back at-bats from
Korben Ford and
C.D. White to take a 3-2 lead into the second.
C.J. Briley received starting reps for the hosts and didn't allow the visitors to score multiple runs in a single stanza for the next four innings. While the Mules found a score in both the third and fourth, two more from the RiverHawks, including a solo home run from
Isaiah Keller, in the bottom of the fifth took them past the middle of the contest with a 5-4 lead.
UCM took charge once the matchup reached the sixth, scoring three runs to kick off a 15-2 run that spanned towards the ninth inning, where the Mules finished their offensive efforts with an exclamation point from a seven-run display.
NSU found life of their own in the bottom of the ninth, scoring seven runs and forcing the Mules to go to three different arms from the bullpen to complete the game, but the large deficit was too much to overcome.
Ford led the team with three hits in the loss, while he was accompanied by
Matt Kaiser,
Gage Williams and Keller with two RBI. Despite taking a loss, Briley pitched 5.2 innings and had four of the pitching staff's six strikeouts.
Northeastern State ends the series with Central Missouri tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Rousey Field.
