No. 3 Central Missouri Shuts Out No. 2 Tampa, 3-0

Central Missouri ace Brooks Martin turned in a masterful performance against Tampa in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships at Cary, N.C. on Saturday. The right-hander struck out 10 and walked one while tossing a complete game four-hit shutout. (Photo by Dave Kopp)

CARY, N.C. (UCM Media Relations) -- It was a matchup of heavyweights, but the No. 3 Central Missouri Mules came out with a 3-0 win over the No. 2 Tampa Spartans in the opening game of the NCAA-II World Series Saturday afternoon, thanks to a complete game four-hit shutout performance from senior right-hander Brooks Martin.

Central Missouri (52-9) got on the board first in an odd fashion as junior right fielder Jon Wegener struck out, but got on first via a wild pitch. He advanced to second on a balk, advanced to third on a ground out, and then scored on a single up the middle by freshman catcher Albert Selanders in the bottom of the second.

Selanders then made it 3-0 in the fourth when he crushed a two-run homer to center field. The 2-1 fastball hit 40 feet up the batter's eye, giving him his third of the year.

The Spartans (46-10) high-powered offense was held in check due to a sparkling performance from Martin, who was named a first-team All-American on Friday. He became the fourth pitcher in school history to record 100 strikeouts in a season in the third inning (joined Danny Powers, Josh Outman and Steve Sharpe), and went on to record 10 in the contest. Martin faced the minimum number of batters through the sixth, and allowed only two runners to reach second base all day.

Martin also became only the third Mule starter to throw a complete-game shutout in the NCAA-II Championships, joining UCM Hall of Famers P.J. McGinnis (5-0 over Kutztown in 2001) and Jim Crane (2-0 over Ohio Northern in 1974).

Central Missouri pounded out 10 hits in the game and chased Tampa starter Sean Bierman after five innings with seven hits. Selanders tallied all three of the game's RBI, going 3-of-3, while Wegener scored two runs. Senior center fielder Chance Tuttle and junior first baseman Nick DeBiasse each had two hits in the contest as well.

Central Missouri will play the winner of the UC-San Diego vs. Georgia College contest. The Mules will play the 7:00 p.m. (Eastern time) game on Monday night.