Central Missouri Mules win again at Division II World Series. Next up: national semis

Erik Webb homered twice and Central Missouri kept rolling in in the NCAA Division II World Series at Cary, North Carolina, Monday evening, beating Tampa 8-4.

The victory moves top-seeded Central Missouri (45-6) into a national semifinals game Thursday against the winner of a Wednesday loser-out matchup between Tampa and Northwest Nazarene of Idaho.

Tampa (21-5) is the tournament’s fifth seed, Northwest Nazarene (35-9) the eighth. Central Missouri has now defeated both to start this World Series. The Mules beat Northwest Nazarene 9-3 to open the tournament on Saturday.

Thursday’s game starts at 5 p.m. Central.

Webb has now hit 18 home runs this year. Garrett Pennington, who also homered, and Donovan Ditto each had three hits Monday; Webb, Ditto and Josh Schumacher each drove in two runs.

Collin Jones got the win for Central Missouri, scattering nine hits and four earned runs across five innings of work. He struck out four and walked none.

Brady Gavin pitched two innings of relief, and Chase Plymell and Evan Rathburn threw one apiece.

The Mules trailed 2-1 after the first inning but put up three-run frames in the fifth and eighth.