Carlos D’Armas tossed seven solid innings, but third-ranked Central Missouri was held to just one hit in a 3-0 loss to No. 16 Cal Poly Pomona. With the loss, the Mules are eliminated from NCAA-II World Series and finish the season at 43-15 overall.
Cal Poly (42-18) struck early, scoring a single run in the bottom of the first on Jason Padlo’s two-out RBI double. The Mules threatened in the top of the third when Jackson Schnurbusch led off with a walk and Blake Wilfong followed with a hit by pitch to put two on with no outs. CPP starter Peter Bayer (2-2) recorded two straight strikeouts, however, and then induced an inning-ending groundout to keep UCM off the board.
Bayer set down 17 straight Mules from the third inning on and took a no-hitter in to the eighth inning. With two outs and nobody on, Wilfong roped a double down the line in right for UCM’s first and only hit of the game. Matt Elliott worked a walk to put two on with two outs, but pinch-hitter Collin Nevil flew out to left center field to end the inning.
The Broncos scored two more times in the bottom of the eighth on Nic Hernandez’s single to right to open a 3-0 lead. Ryan Alsworth worked a perfect ninth inning, recording two strikeouts to earn his eighth save of the season. The final line on Bayer was eight innings pitched with one hit, three walks and 14 strikeouts.
D’Armas (5-3) scattered five hits and allowed just the first inning run while striking out four over seven innings.
The Mules finish the season at 43-15 overall. They won the MIAA Regular Season and Tournament titles after being picked to finish third in the preseason coaches’ poll. They captured the Central Region championship and advanced to the 17th NCAA-II World Series in program history.
Story–UCM Athletics
