The No. 4 Central Methodist baseball program won the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular-season crown, defeating Clarke University in a best-two-of-three series by scores of 18-3 and 9-2 last weekend at Estes Field.

With the win, Central claims its fourth conference championship and its first since the 2018 season. The Eagles improve to 40-5 and 26-3 in the final standings and will serve as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament this upcoming week in Ozark, Missouri.

CMU -18

Clarke - 3

The Eagle bats were firing on all cylinders in a 15-run victory over the Pride in game one. Senior Kenny Otero led the Eagles with a career-high five hits and four runs scored.

Senior Sergio Macias also excelled at the plate, finishing the afternoon batting four-of-five and driving in seven runs, tying a career-high, including a three-run home run in the sixth.

Senior Mason Schwellenbach also had an impressive outing, hitting a grand slam to clear the bases in the eighth. Senior Devon Garcia and sophomore Logan McDonald each picked up three hits, while Garcia recorded a triple and drew a walk.

Overall, Central picked up 22 hits including six that were for extra bases. Junior Nick Merkel got the start on the hill, tossing eight complete innings and giving up only three earned runs on seven hits with a new career-high 14 strikeouts.

Sophomore Tyler Vicars pitched the final inning, striking out two batters.

CMU -9

Clarke- 3

CMU needed only a win in the second game of the series Saturday to clinch the regular-season crown. The Eagles jump out in front in the first inning with four runs, highlighted by the second grand slam from Mason Schwellenbach in as many games.

The third inning saw leadoff home runs from both Sergio Macias and Schwellenbach, followed by a two-run home run from senior Max McCay to push CMU's lead to 8-1. McCay put the finishing touches on the victory with his second home run of the day in the eighth inning.

Records Fall

Schwellenbach set a new program record for single-season wins by a starting pitcher with his 11th victory of the season on Saturday. The previous record was held by Kyle Fulton, Dariel Checo, and Jeff King with 10 wins apiece. He tossed 6.2 innings and gave up only one earned run on four hits including 11 strikeouts.

The Eagles will now look to postseason play, making the short trip to Springfield, Missouri. for the Heart Conference tournament beginning Thursday, May 7 at 5 p.m.