JOPLIN, Mo. - We are down to two teams remaining in the 2021 MIAA Baseball Championship Tournament, presented by Mammoth Sports Construction. Top-seed and regular-season champ Central Missouri will battle No. 4 Pittsburg State in the championship final Saturday at Noon CT. Tickets, courtesy of HomeTown Ticketing, are on-sale now. Click here to buy tickets.

• For the complete championship schedule, bracket, live stats, live video, tickets and more information, click here. 

Friday, May 21 Results

• (Game 3) Winner's Bracket: No. 1 Central Missouri def. No. 6 Central Oklahoma, 11-7
• (Game 4) Elimination Bracket: No. 4 Pittsburg State def. No. 7 Rogers State, 7-6
• (Game 5) Elimination Bracket: No. 4 Pittsburg State def. No. 6 Central Oklahoma, 2-1

Saturday, May 22 Schedule

• Championship Final: No. 1 Central Missouri vs. No. 4 Pittsburg State, Noon CT
• If-Necessary Championship Final: 30 minutes after completion of Championship Final #1

Game 1 Recap: No. 1 Central Missouri def. No. 6 Central Oklahoma, 11-7
Central Missouri scored 10-straight runs and used solid defense once again to stay undefeated in the MIAA Baseball Championship. In the opening series last weekend in Warrensburg, the Mules went 2-0 in the best-of-3 series. In Joplin, UCM now stands 2-0 and will play in the title game on Saturday.

Central Oklahoma was agressive at the plate in the early going with two in the first inning and a lone run in the second to take a 3-0 lead. Kyle Crowl hammered his 13th homer of the year, a two-run bomb, in the first inning.

In the bottom of the second inning and trailing 3-0, Central Missouri's Donovan Ditto started the scoring with an RBI double. In total, UCM scored four runs to go up 4-3 after the second. In the fourth frame, the MIAA's career home run slugger lit a fire. Erik Webb blasted a three-run homer - his 15th - to put UCM up 7-3. The Mules got a two-RBI double from Cole Taylor and RBI-groundout from Donovan Ditto to push the lead out to 10-3.

Central Oklahoma tried to make a comeback with four runs in the late innings, but UCM's pitching and defense shut the door.

Left-handed pitcher Collin Jones notched the win, going 5.0 innings. He allowed three runs - all earned - on four hits. He struck out three and walked three.

Josh Schumacher was 3-for-5 to lead the hitting attack for Central Missouri. The 1-2-3 hitters for UCM went a combined 7-for-14 with six RBI and four runs scored.

For UCO, Crowl compiled three hits and lead-off man Philip Scott went 2-for-4 at the dish.

Game 2 Recap: No. 4 Pittsburg State def. No. 7 Rogers State, 7-6
It was a wild game that saw Pittsburg State plate five runs in the eighth to surpass and eliminate Rogers State by a 7-6 score.

Rogers State seemed to seize control with a 4-0 lead after three innings. Prescott Horn and Brandon Bradshaw went deep in back-to-back at-bats for the Hillcats in the third inning. From there, Pittsburg State pushed across single runs in the fifth and seventh innings to trail 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

With the bases loaded in the home-half of the seventh inning, RSU took advantage of a misplayed grounder to score two more times and lead 6-2 heading into the eighth.

That is when the Pittsburg State magic started. Garrett McGowan led off the inning with a home run to right field. One pitch later, Dawson Pomeroy said goodbye to his leftfield shot and the Gorillas were back in it at a 6-4 score. Then, Cruz Aranda ripped a two-RBI double to tie the score at 6-6.

The game-deciding run was courtesy of Aranda. He scored from second base on an infielder's error. Pomeroy, who started at third base, pitched the final three innings to earn the win for the Gorillas. He didn't allow a hit and struck out five to improve to 3-0 on the hill.

Pittsburg State's Blain Ohlmeier led all hitters with three rips and he also scored once. Skyler Nelson finished with two of Rogers State's six team hits.

Game 3 Recap: No. 4 Pittsburg State def. No. 6 Central Oklahoma, 2-1
The first four innings were scoreless, with the two teams combining for just three hits. Then, Pittsburg State scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth frame and turned on the defense and pitching in the late innings to survive another day.

PSU starting pitcher Peyton Ingalls tossed the complete-game victory to move to 7-1 on the year. He needed 113 pitches to tame the Bronchos. He allowed one run on three hits and he struck out eight batters.

In the top of the fifth inning, Zach Freeman scored on a shallow fly ball to right field. He tagged up from third base on a sac fly by Ryan Harrel. That play gave Central Oklahoma a 1-0 lead.

But in the bottom of the fifth, Pittsburg State's first two batters reached on singles. Three batters later, Greyson Pinkett tied the game up by scoring on a wild pitch. Ryan Kovall was the hero, singling home Mason Hartman and the Gorillas led 2-1 after five innings.

Ingalls was on his A-game for the Gorillas. He only allowed a hits-batter in the sixth-through-eighth innings. But the Bronchos put the heat on in the top of the ninth. Kyle Crowl led off the inning for UCO by getting hit. Then, Garrett Takamatsu singled to put runners on first and second with no outs. But, Ingalls struck out the next two batters and got a fly-out to end the game.

Koval and Pinkett each recorded two hits for Pitt State. Bennett Laurence went 2-for-3 for Central Oklahoma.