By MATT PIKE
The No. 29 Northwest Missouri State University baseball team rallied in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings to score a dramatic 8-7 walk off win, knocking No. 30 Central Missouri from the 2026 MIAA Tournament.
Northwest, the No. 4 seed in the MIAA tournament, earned its 36th win of the season in dramatic fashion when Sam Dinkleman hit a two out, two RBI plating John Connors and Wilmer Jimenez for the walk off win in the tournament.
Michael Good opened the scoring in the second inning for Northwest, but in the third inning the Mules tied the game with a home run of their own by Cole Kreisel. UCM added two more runs in the eighth inning to take the lead on an RBI single by Grant Hollister, scoring Cole Funkhouser, and a sacrifice bunt from Ryker Edwards bringing home Chase Wilcox, but in the bottom of the inning Jordi Ventura's sacrifice fly brought the Bearcats back within one, driving in Chester Brooks, heading into the final inning down 3-2.
In the ninth inning, the Bearcats rallied in the ninth inning to reach extra innings. Good led off the inning with a single up the middle. Leonardo May advanced him to second with a sacrifice bunt and Parker Griffith hit a ground-rule double that bounced over the fence in right-center to knot the game at 3-3. Walks to Bishop LeBlond alum Frank Gall and Jeremiah Cabuyaban loaded the bases, but the Mules escaped as Ventura struck out to end the frame.
The Mules took advantage of a defensive miscue from May in the top of the 10th to score three unearned runs. Kreisel scored on a throwing error by May, as Wilcox reached on a fielders choice. Hollister later drove in both Wilcox and Funkhouser with a two RBI single to give UCM a 6-3 lead going to the bottom half, but Northwest did not fold and answered with a three-run rally.
Connors walked to lead off the inning and flew around the bases on an RBI-double to right-center from Jimenez to cut the lead to two.. May made up for his mistake, cutting the lead to one with an RBI-single to center to score Jimenez. After Sam Wornson singled past the shortstop to put runners on first and second, back-to-back wild pitches from Mules pitcher Tommy Gross allowed May to cross the plate with the tying run.
Northwest had a chance to win as Chester Brooks drew a walk and stole second to put runners at second and third with one out, but UCM escaped the jam as Gross struck out both Gall and Cabuyaban to end the inning tied 6-6.
UCM did regain the lead to start the 11th inning when leadoff hitter Kaleb Ceola singled and moved to third after Landon Wells's pickoff attempt went awry. The Mules used a squeeze bunt from Drew Veatch to score Ceola for the one-run advantage, moving ahead 7-6. Wells was able to avoid further damage when he picked off Veatch and forced Kreisel to ground out to May at third, sending it to the bottom half of the inning.
In the bottom half, Ventura led off the with a strikeout, but Connors drew a walk and Jimenez hit a single to left field, putting runners on first and second. UCM brought on reliever Gavin Killion, and Good greeted the new pitcher with a single to right field loading the the bases. Killion bounced back, strking out May for the second out and head coach Tony Jandron called on Dinkelman to pinch hit, the pinch hitter delivering a two-run single to right bringing home Jimenez and Connors which set off a Bearcat field storming.
Northwest's Ben Haug and UCM's Sawyer Allen were locked in a pitcher's duel for the first seven-plus innings. Haug threw 129 pitches in 7.1 innings with nine strikeouts. Allen, the MIAA Pitcher of the Year, threw 124 pitches in 7.2 innings while striking out seven. Haug was touched up in the eighth for two runs before he gave way to Plattsburg alum Brock Steggall. Wells pitched the final two innings to gain the win and moved to 5-2 on the season.
Good went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI hitting the home run. Jimenez was 2-for-5 at the pate with a double, walk, RBI, and two runs scored. Brooks was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Northwest now advances to the MIAA semifinals tomorrow where they will take on the winner of the matchup between No.9 seed Central Oklahoma and No. 1 seed Pittsburg State. First pitch tomorrow is at 1pm.
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