Mules score in each of the first five innings and cruise to
victory
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (May 26,
2003) - No. 1-ranked Central Missouri State University
scored six runs in the fourth inning to break open a 3-2 game and
coasted to an 11-4 victory over No. 21 Franklin Pierce in game six
of the 2003 Division II College World Series at Paterson Field
tonight.
Central Missouri (49-7) will await
the winner of Wednesday's elimination game between Grand Valley
State University (41-13-1) and either University of Tampa (43-17)
or Kennesaw State University (39-16). Grand Valley eliminated
Slippery Rock University (48-13), 9-8, in today's first game.
Central Missouri will play Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (CT), needing just
one win to advance to Saturday's National Championship game.
Franklin Pierce (31-16) will face
the winner of tomorrow's elimination game between UC Davis (35-23)
and Abilene Christian (45-19) on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
(CT). "Our approach doesn't change," said Head Coach
Jayson King after the loss. "Just play
ball has been our motto over the last couple of weeks and if we do
that it doesn't matter who we play."
King will start freshman
right-hander Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) on
Wednesday.
"We have a good pitcher going for
us on Wednesday," said King. "I trust he'll keep pitching well for
us, then we have our ace (Matt Weagle)
ready after that."
Junior Zach Norman (Odessa, Mo.)
led the CMSU offense, as he was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an
RBI. Classmate Danny Guidry (Crowley, La.) finished 3-4 with a
double, run scored and two RBI. Senior Brandon Pugh (Odessa, Mo.)
finished 2-3 with a home run and three runs scored.
Junior right-hander Phil Sobkow
(Calder, Saskatchewan) picked up his eighth win of the season (8-0)
as he allowed three earned runs on four hits and six walks with
nine strikeouts over six innings.
Senior Mike Callahan
(Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) was 2-3 for
Franklin Pierce with a double, run scored and two RBI. Junior
Dante Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass.) was 2-5
with two runs scored, while sophomore Eric Cavers
(Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) was 2-5 with two
doubles and an RBI.
Freshman Shawn Hayes
(Charlton, Mass./Holy Name) registered a stolen base
in the second inning to match Cavers' single-season freshman record
of 15 set last season.
Senior right-hander Jon
White (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic) suffered
the loss (6-5) as he was touched for nine runs, just three earned,
on ten hits with four strikeouts and no walks in 3.2 innings of
work.
After CMSU broke on top with an
unearned run in the first, Franklin Pierce took a lead of its own
in the second. Callahan was hit by a Sobkow pitch to open the
frame, then senior Josh Coughlin (Keene,
N.H./Keene) singled up the middle before freshman
Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) drew
a walk to load the bases. Hayes followed with a base-on-balls of
his own to tie the score, then Cavers drove in the go-ahead run
with a fielder's choice.
The Mules knotted the score in the
bottom of the second as Pugh belted a homer to left with two away.
Guidry singled, then scored the go-ahead run in the third when
Hayes threw the ball away on an ill-advised double-play attempt.
CMSU broke the game open in the
fourth as it took advantage of four Franklin Pierce errors for six
runs, just one earned. The earned run came off the bat of freshman
Steve Murphy (Overland Park, Kan.) as he led off the inning with
his 12th home run of the season to deep center. Senior Boomer Berry
(Topeka, Kan.) added a two-run double to the rally.
The Mules added two more runs in
the fifth to round out the scoring as Guidry belted a two-run
double down the rightfield line. The Ravens chipped into the lead
with single runs in the fifth and seventh as Blancarte singled in
each frame and later scored on Callahan base hits.
"Obviously I'm not happy with the
way we played tonight," said King. "Not because of the score, but
because of the mistakes we made. I like the way we hit the ball. We
got good contact all night long and if we cut out the mistakes, we
are right in the ballgame."
| Teams
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| R
| H
| E
|
| FP
| 0
| 2
| 0
| 0
| 1
| 0
| 1
| 0
| 0
| 4
| 9
| 5
|
| CMSU
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 6
| 2
| 0
| 0
| 0
| x
| 11
| 16
| 0
|
BOX
SCORE
Batteries:
FP - Jon White, Mike Farrell (4), Greg
Basile (6), Mike Bartkus (8) and Eric Cavers and John Richard.
CMSU - Sobkow, Kissel (7), Bergin (8), Horner (9)
and Pugh.
WP: Sobkow
(8-0)
LP: White (6-5)
HR: CMSU: Murphy
(12) and Pugh (5).
