Schneider nearly unhittable as No. 8 MSSU upsets No. 1 UCM in MIAA quarters
The eighth-seeded Lions played host to home team and top-seed University of Central Missouri Thursday for the quarterfinal round of the MIAA tournament.
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UCM, ranked third in the nation (38-11), struggled to find much offense as MSSU's Casey Stalzer and Owen Schneider combined to allow just two runs on four hits on the way to a 7-2 upset of the Mules.
"Schneider was great. Obviously, he was the difference for us," MSSU head coach Bryce Darnell said.
The lefty entered the game in the third inning with the bases full and only one out. Stalzer had pitched two scoreless frames but started to struggle in the third, allowing three hits and walking one batter as the Mules got a run across, making it 5-1.
That's when Schneider came in.
"When I came in, I was a little nervous. I faced these guys a couple weeks ago and didn't have my best stuff. I knew I had to come in with my better stuff and pick up my teammate Casey (Stalzer)," Schneider said.
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His stuff was good enough to strike out UCM's Vance Tobol and Isaiah Keller to end the threat and preserve a 5-1 lead.
The redshirt sophomore from Rockwood Summit High School in St. Louis went on to finish the game, limiting the opposition to just one hit. He walked three batters and struck out eight.
It seemed he may have had some extra juice in the last couple of innings as he recorded four of his eight strikeouts then. On one of them in the eighth frame he let out a loud grunt as he fired a two-strike fastball to the outside part of the plate that Tobol watched go by for a called strike three by the home plate umpire.
"It helped that I had my teammates behind me. I did get a little stronger as the game went on. I focused a little more, and I was locating all my pitches," Schneider said.
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The lone hit from the Mules off of Schneider was a solo home run by Keller that made it 5-2 in the sixth inning. Schneider talked about the excitement of getting to be a part of a key victory for his team over a nationally ranked opponent.
"It feels amazing. We'll knock out the one seed, and we ain't done yet," Schneider added.
Up next for the Lions (28-24) will be the winner of No. 4-seed University of Central Oklahoma and No. 5-seed Rogers State University at 1 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.
"Just try to get to the next day. Owen (Schneider) was just wonderful today (and) his ability to get inside on those right-handed hitters was a huge part of the success," Darnell said.
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UCM head coach Kyle Crookes elected to go with Jake Wilson as his starting pitcher. Wilson had not started a game all season. He made it through three innings but allowed five runs on six hits while walking two batters and hitting another.
It all began in the first inning as the Lions used two hits to score three runs. Drew Townsend started things with a walk. Ethan Clark singled and then Brayden Luikart laid down a bunt for a single to load the bases. Then two runs were scored as Nate Mieszkowski was hit by a pitch and Jacob Filip walked. Treghan Parker grounded out to drive in the third run.
"You start fast, and it's hard to beat a good team; when you get up 3-nothing early it makes a difference," Darnell said.
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Darnell noted that the early lead could have played a factor in the way the Mules typically play aggressively on the base paths. He thinks trailing all game may dictate how aggressive Crookes and the Mules want to be.
While UCM struggled to score, Crookes felt like his offense was doing good things at times through the early parts of the game.
"I think for the first six innings, our offense was, as far as my perspective, I thought we did a great job. We just hit balls right at people," Crookes said. "(Nate) Mieszkowski made a bunch of good plays, you line out to the shortstop and line out a couple places. That's baseball.
"Schneider did a good job commanding the zone. And I think he commanded the zone with one pitch. He went fastball in and fastball out and mixed in enough of a slider."
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MSSU tacked on one in the second and another in the third to make it 5-0. Cy Darnell doubled to start the second and Drew Townsend singled to move him over 90 feet. Clark rolled into a double play that scored Darnell. A sacrifice fly from Blake Jones scored Mieszkowski in the third.
"They're (UCM) going to keep coming so it's important to keep getting runs for sure," Darnell said.
The last two runs for the Lions were freebies as well as Mieszkowski again got hit by a pitch with the sacks full in the seventh, and then Parker was walked with them loaded in the ninth.
"I think the game boils down to the first inning and the inning when they (MSSU) scored the sixth run," Crookes noted.
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UCM had swept MSSU in the regular season, outscoring the Lions 44-19 in three games. The Lions have now won consecutive MIAA tournament meetings against the Mules.
"We were 2-2 against them last year. We've played them in this tournament three straight years. We've beat them twice. They're an awesome program. But, what I mean by that is our guys are ready to play," Darnell said. "Credit to our guys. Their competitive spirit was great today."
Luikart led the Lions with three hits going 3 for 5 with two runs scored. Mieszkowski, Townsend, Filip and Darnell each added two hits. Mieszkowski and Parker led the team with two RBIs apiece. The Lions drew five walks to go along with 12 hits.
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