Central Rolls to 18-7 Win, Regional Final Berth

By David Boyce

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- An offensive explosion in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh innings gave Central Missouri the easy road to the NCAA Division II World Series.

In the winner's bracket game of the South Central Regional, the Mules recovered from an early three-run deficit and beat Incarnate Word 18-7 Monday afternoon at Crane Stadium.

“Our total objective is to be aware of what is going on,” Central Missouri coach Tom Myers said. “Today was outstanding.

“Defensively, we were in the right spot a lot. I thought Ryan Allen settled down and the bullpen came in and did fantastic.

“Offensively, we did a great job of making an outstanding pitcher throw the ball over the plate and down below our hands. We did an outstanding job of getting pitches to hit.”

The victory puts Central Missouri, 50-8, in the championship game at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The Mules need just one more win in the double-elimination tournament to earn a spot in the World Series, which begins Saturday in Cary, N.C.

Meanwhile, Incarnate Word has an uphill climb to get there. Because of the loss, the Cardinals first need to win an elimination game that will start around 10 p.m. Monday. If they win they have to beat Central Missouri twice on Tuesday.

“Obviously, we had to do that to win the conference tournament so we are prepared to do that if we have to,” said Central Missouri first baseman Nick DeBiasse. “But this will help keep our pitching lined up and let us have all the arms in the pen ready to go in the championship game tomorrow. It definitely helps us out.”

The Mules made sure that wasn't the route they needed to take, but they did have a moment of worry.

Allen gave up two runs in the second and another in the third. Myers even had a pitcher warming up in the third.

But Allen settled down and didn't allow any more damage over the next two innings, and that was all the Mules' offense required.

 After striking out four times in the first two innings against Kirk Jewasko, who struck out 13 against Emporia State on Thursday, the Mules bats came alive in a big way.

The No. 9 hitter Cory Deedrick got it started with a leadoff single in the bottom of the third. Four batters later the game was tied 3-3 when Frank Specht soaked a RBI double.

Allen did something important. He didn't allow the Cardinals to answer. He gave up a harmless two-out single in the fourth.

“That was a huge boost,” said Allen, who improved to 9-2. “Our offense picked up and gave me that extra boost to bump it up to the next level and hold them there. That was definitely a huge inning to get the momentum back on our side.”

The Mules basically put the game away in the bottom half of the inning. The key blow was a two-out, three-run homer by DeBiasse that gave Central Missouri a 7-3 lead.

“I try to treat each at bat as it own,” said DeBiasse, who finished with six RBIs. “He struck me out the first at bat and made me look a little bit silly actually. You can't let that affect your next at bat. You have to learn from it. If you make the adjustment good things can happen.”

Central Missouri was far from done. The Mules tacked on three runs in the sixth and left no doubt with eight more runs in the seventh for an 18-3 lead.

“Eight runs are great and something we are capable of doing at anytime,” Myers said. “When I know we are capable of it I know other teams are capable of it, also. So you can't lose your edge.

“I think our club allowed itself to lose its edge. We got too happy and excited at that point. We need to do a better job of keeping our focus and edge because it is hard to get it back sometimes.”

Because of the maturity of his players, Myers knew his team would handle the rain delays.

“The players are playing above their age. I knew they would be ready when asked,” Myers said. “We kept getting pushed back. You wonder what's going through their minds. I guess they answered that a little bit today.”