Central Missouri’s Mason Green fans 12 to land Mules in DII national semifinals
Central Missouri used a pair of three-run innings and 19 total hits to rout Ashland (Ohio) 11-3 Wednesday morning and move on in the Division II College World Series in Cary, North Carolina.
The Mules will meet Colorado Mesa in the national semifinals at 9 a.m. Thursday, but because the Mavericks won the first matchup on Monday, the Mules will have to beat the Mavericks on Thursday and again on Friday to make the championship game.
On Wednesday, several Mules contributed. Starter Mason Green tossed seven innings of three-run (all unearned) baseball, allowing just three hits and striking out 12, and left fielder Josh Schumacher went 4-for-5 with three RBI.
Second baseman Michael Sinks, designated hitter Micah Evans, third baseman Harrison Schnurbusch, right fielder Erik Webb and center fielder Mason Janvrin all recorded multi-hit games for Central Missouri.
In fact, during the game, Janvrin was selected in the 14th round of the MLB Draft (408th overall) by the Baltimore Orioles.
“It’s hard to not be thinking that during the game, but I tried my best focus on taking at bats and getting my prep-steps in the outfield,” Janvrin told UCM Athletics. “I found out in the bottom of the eighth inning as I was in the hole. I don’t remember exactly who said it, coach (Kyle Crookes) or someone. It was just all your hard work coming together in one moment. The happiness obviously, relief, that sort of thing.”
Despite the wide final margin, the Mules had to overcome an early deficit.
After Central Missouri recorded a pair of runs in the first inning, Ashland responded with three in the second frame, when the Mules committed two errors.
That, though, proved to be one of the few blots on Green’s outing. He improved to 9-0 on the season with the win and picked up his 100th career strikeout.
“I didn’t have my slider early on — that was one of the biggest things,” Green told UCM Athletics, “but I knew early on if I could get my fastball working and put it where I wanted, they weren’t going to touch it. They weren’t going to barrel balls very hard. The biggest thing for me (was) commanding two pitches at that point and giving our guys on the offensive side a chance to win a ballgame.”
The Mules did just that, tallying three runs on four hits in the sixth stanza. Webb launched a solo home run to lead off the inning, while Sinks and catcher Zak Whalin each logged an RBI double.
The result: a 10-3 lead for Central Missouri headed into the seventh.
That was more than enough cushion for the Mules, who are in the national semifinals for the first time since 2008, to round out the game comfortably.
“I can’t put myself in their shoes and know what they felt, but this team is that (aggressive),” Crookes told UCM Athletics. “That’s what we’ve worked on being, that’s what they’ve worked on being. I think it’s part of who we are as a group. It’s part of our identity. The players have done a tremendous job of wrapping their arms around that, and I think that’s how we play.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2019 at 7:29 PM.