WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The baseball team saw Central Missouri get a walk-off RBI single by Justin Steele in the bottom of the ninth for an 8-7 victory to take the weekend series against the Panthers on Sunday. Davenport (2-4) battled back-and-forth with Central Missouri (5-5) and ultimately could not make enough plays to pull off the win.
Davenport jumped ahead 3-0 with single runs in the first, third and fourth innings.
Khale Showers had a RBI grounder in the first.
Gaetano Vallone hit his first home run of the season to right field for a 2-0 lead in the third.
Tyler Mosher had a RBI single in the fourth and it was a 3-0 start.
Central Missouri turned the tide with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-3 lead. The Mules scored those seven runs on just four hits as Davenport made two errors in the inning.
James Kohl left with two outs in the inning for
Tyler McKinstry. The Mules would score four runs with two outs against McKinstry. The pitching staff struggled with control most of the day as they walked six batters and threw nine wild pitches.Â
Davenport answered right back in the top of the fifth with four runs to tie the game at 7-7.
Coltrane Rubner had a two-RBI single and
Logan Hylek had a two-RBI double in the big inning. No one else scored until the bottom of the ninth. UCM was facing
Logan Bursick-Harrington who was throwing well entering in the seventh inning with two outs and holding them scoreless in the eighth inning as well with two strikeouts. Two big walks including one with two outs on a full count, set up the Mules with first and second. A costly wild pitch moved a runner to third and Steele delivered the clutch hit on a 1-0 pitch to right field.
Kohl lasted 3.2 innings and allowed five hits and five earned runs with a walk and strikeout.
Jack Snow also pitched 2.2 innings of relief and allowed no runs on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Bursick-Harrington (0-1) gave up two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Vallone had his best day at the plate this season going 3-of-5 with three runs scored. Rubner went 2-of-4 with two RBI. Mosher also went 2-of-4 with a RBI for the Panthers.
