ST. JOSEPH - Over the final eight innings Tuesday, Missouri Western Baseball controlled third-ranked Central Missouri. But the top of the first proved to be the deciding factor in the Griffons' 8-4 loss to the Mules in an MIAA mid-week match-up at the Spring Sports Complex.
UCM took advantage of an early Griffon error and walks to explode for six runs in the first inning to take early command and hold off a late MWSU charge to claim victory.
The Griffons settled down after the first frame, with pitchers
Zack Cushing,
Sam Kratz,
Jacob Ross,
Robert Farrell and
David Steffen combing to keep the Mules offense in check over 8+ innings.
Ryan Koval and
Jared Munk had two hits apiece for the Griffons, who dropped their fourth straight MIAA game after being swept by Washburn over the weekend.
Western falls to 12-10 overall and 4-6 in MIAA play. Central improves to 19-3 and 8-1 in the conference.
The Griffons return to action Friday when they face Northwest Missouri in Maryville for the start of a three game MIAA swing. First pitch set for Friday is 3pm.