#23 Central Missouri 7 #19 Wayne State 4
23rd-ranked Central Missouri defeated 19th-ranked Wayne State College 7-4 Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the NCAA Division II Central Regional Baseball Tournament in Emporia, Kansas. With the loss, the 40-12 Wildcats face an elimination game on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. against top-seeded Emporia State, who scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday night to edge Concordia-St. Paul 3-2.
The game featured a premier pitching matchup with Wayne State throwing 2008 NSIC Pitcher of the Year Nick Schumacher (13-1) against Central Missouri’s Mark Carey, the 2008 Daktronics Central Region Pitcher of the Year, who was 9-1 on the season.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when third baseman Alex Koch belted a solo homer, his sixth of the season, to give Wayne State an early 1-0 lead. However, Central Missouri responded with four runs in the top of the third inning to grab a 4-1 advantage. Brian McBryde’s RBI single scored the first Mule run followed by a three-run homer from UCM’s Ian Dykins (on a 1-2 count) down the left field line that gave Central Missouri a 4-1 lead.
Wayne State threatened to score in the bottom of the fourth inning, loading the bases with two outs, following singles by Marc Manganaro, Alex Koch and Sean Soderberg. But freshman second baseman Nick Bidroski grounded out to second base to end the inning and the score remained 4-1. The Wildcats cut into the Mules’ lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Brian Sulzman led off the inning with a single and came in to score on a two-out single up the middle by Josh Yost to make the score 4-2 after five innings.
The score stayed the same until the top of the eighth inning when Central Missouri used three walks off a tiring Schumacher and a two-run single up the middle by Chris Brown to plate two runs, giving UCM a 6-2 lead to end the day for Schumacher. Luis Perez then produced an infield RBI single to third base for the Mules off reliever Reid Lancaster, giving Central Missouri a 7-2 lead.
The Wildcats mounted a rally in the eighth inning as Alex Koch was hit by the pitch, then singles by Joe Wendte and Sean Soderberg loaded the bases with two outs, chasing UCM starter Mark Carey. Pinch-hitter Ian DeLaet then laced a two-run single to right-center field off Central Missouri reliever Tom Latimore, scoring Koch and Wendte to cut the Mules’ lead to 7-4. But WSC pinch hitter Treye Hacker flew out to left field against Mules’ reliever Chris Matlock to end the rally with runners at first and third.
“We had a couple of bad innings that hurt us and that was the difference in the game,” commented WSC head coach John Manganaro following the game. “Nick (Schumacher) was a little too pumped and was all over with everything today. They hit one ball hard (Ian Dykins’ homer in third inning) and then in the eighth inning he was a little tired and started walking guys. You can’t walk five or six guys against a team like Central Missouri and get away with it. We had our opportunities to score a couple of times with either the bases loaded or runners in scoring position and we didn’t get the extra hit that we needed. That was the difference in the game.”
Wayne State out hit Central Missouri in the game 11-8. Alex Koch finished 3 for 3 with two runs scored, recording a solo homer to go with two singles. Sean Soderberg was 2 for 4 with a pair of singles. Justin Hemauer, Josh Yost, Marc Manganaro, Joe Wendte, Ian DeLaet and Brian Sulzman each accounted for singles to round out Wayne State’s 11-hit attack.
Chris Brown was 2 for 4 with two RBI’s while Luis Perez was 2 for 4 to top Central Missouri’s eight hits. Ian Dykins connected on a three-run homer while Clay Weatherford doubled for the Mules.
Nick Schumacher (13-2) suffered the pitching loss for Wayne State, allowing seven runs on seven hits over 7 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked five while throwing 140 pitches. Freshman reliever Reid Lancaster recorded the final four outs for WSC, giving up just one hit with two strikeouts and one walk.
Mark Carey (10-1) earned the win for Central Missouri, giving up four runs on nine hits over 7 2/3 innings. Chris Matlock notched his 10th save of the season to preserve the win, allowing one hit over 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts.