The No. 24 Central Methodist Baseball program took three of four games over William Penn University this weekend at Estes Field. Central split the first day with the Statesmen, winning game one 14-5 before falling in game two 10-9. The Eagles concluded the weekend with back-to-back wins Saturday, 10-8 and 17-12, to improve to 20-10 overall and 14-6 in the Heart of America.

William Penn drops to 14-14 and 7-9 in conference action.

Game 1:

William Penn 5

CMU 14

After a quick one-two-three inning with two strikeouts by starting pitcher Foster Seitz, the Eagles’ offense came to work in the bottom of the first to take a four-run lead. Tanner Sears brought home the first run, scoring Kyle Williams all the way from second on a single up the middle. After a Ryan Malzahn double and two outs in the inning, Darius Freeman switched places with Malzahn at second with a two-run two-bagger. Gavin Whitehurst immediately followed up with a single for Central’s fourth run of the inning.

The Statesmen got one back in the third, followed by one more in the next inning. However, CMU put up two runs in the fourth courtesy of back-to-back home runs from David Soriano and Zeb Wede. Central scored two additional runs in the fifth thanks to an RBI double by Whitehurst and an RBI single by Wede.

With an 8-3 advantage in the sixth, Central continued to pile on to their lead with six additional runs to break the game wide open, 14-3.

The Statesmen scored two in the top of the seventh but fell short of a comeback as the Eagles took game one, 14-5.

Seitz improved to 6-2 on the mound. The right-hander allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out seven. Whitehurst stood out at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Game 2:

William Penn 10

CMU 9

The Statesmen wasted no time getting their bats going in game two, scoring seven runs in the opening frame. Central scored in the second inning as Whitehurst picked up his fourth RBI of the day, followed by a Wede left-field double to bring in Whitehurst from second.

After the Statesmen took a 10-2 lead in the third, the Eagles began their pursuit of a comeback in the fifth. Valentin Cerna Jr. drove in the third Eagles’ run on his first base hit of the day, while Malzahn drove Cerna Jr. home to make it a 10-4 game. The big blast of the inning came off the bat of Carlos Negron, who sent a two-RBI no-doubter over the right field fence.

Trailing 10-6 in the sixth, a Cerna Jr. single brought home Dominick Proctor to cut the deficit to three. Sears then joined Central’s home run efforts, leaving the yard with Cerna Jr. at second to put his team down by just one.

Nicholas Neighbours made quick work of the Statesmen in the seventh, giving the Eagles’ bats a chance to do the spectacular in the bottom half. But Central was retired after just three batters came to the plate, resulting in WPU’s first victory at Estes Field in more than a decade.

Neighbours came in relief and threw four exceptional innings. The right-hander gave up just one hit and one walk while sitting down eight via strikeout.

Game 3:

William Penn 8

CMU 10

William Penn took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning off a couple of base hits, but Central held its own in the bottom of the inning, quickly tying things up at 3-3 as Cerna Jr., Williams, and Malzahn all touched home plate.

Cerna Jr. then scored for the second time in as many innings to give CMU a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second, this time on a wild pitch by the Statesmen’s starter.

The visitors took a 6-4 lead in the middle innings. But in the bottom of the fifth, Darius Freeman pushed home Negron from third on a ground ball to second base, cutting down Central’s deficit to just one run.

The Statesmen’s lead increased to 8-5, and the Eagles were down to their final six outs. Determined to pick up their second win of the series, the Eagles got busy with the long ball. Proctor and Cerna Jr. both went yard with solo shots to cut the lead to one. The game-changing swing came off the bat of Negron, who blasted a three-run home run to left center field, putting the Eagles up 10-8.

With one away in the seventh, William Penn had a runner on base, but Landon Winingham struck out the final two batters to pick up the save and the two-run victory for Central.

Game 4:

William Penn 12

CMU 17

For the third straight game, the Statesmen jumped out to an early first-inning lead, this time 5-0 in the top half.

Cerna Jr. drew a walk to begin the Eagles offensive half and, after advancing to second on a wild pitch, came around to score on a single from Williams back up the middle.

The Eagle’s bats exploded in the second, scoring double-digit runs to claim an 11-5 advantage. Freeman, Sears, and Malzahn all went yard in the inning.

William Penn had no problem putting up runs, adding five to their tally in the fourth. The Eagles still held an 11-10 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Williams extended Central’s lead to two with an RBI single.

The Statesmen continued to battle back, but Central’s offense held its own. CMU scored two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to take game four of the series, 17-12.

Sears, who started out catching game four, switched to pitching in the middle frames. The senior tossed four complete innings and allowed just two earned runs while striking out three for his third win on the bump this year. He also helped out his own cause, finishing the day batting 2-for-3 with two home runs and five RBI.

Cerna Jr. had a great game as the leadoff hitter, batting two-for-two while drawing a pair of walks. He drove in three runners and crossed the plate three times.

Central will travel to Ottawa, Kansas, for a three-game non-conference matchup against Ottawa. The first pitch on Friday is set for 1 p.m. with a noon start for Saturday’s doubleheader. The Eagles return home for a four-game weekend series against rival Missouri Valley College next Saturday and Sunday, with doubleheaders beginning at noon on both days.