Mustangs face elimination bracket following extra-inning effort

SEWARD, NEB. – Morningside Baseball jumped into postseason play today, competing in the Concordia pod of the 2023 Great Plains Athletic Conference Postseason Baseball Tournament. The Mustangs were paired with Midland for the opening nine-inning contest of the double elimination tournament, giving the fans their money's worth as they played to a 10-9 loss in 11 innings.

Morningside got a good start from the ace of its pitching staff, Wade Canaday, who threw 6.2 innings with five strikeouts while giving up four runs on seven hits. Midland's bats got to the Mustang bullpen, though, as four relievers combined for six runs. 

Alex Calabrese started the Mustangs' offense in the second inning, driving a two-run blast over the right field wall, scoring Ryan Kiolbassa in the process. Midland took the lead back the next inning, scratching three runs across in the third. 

A big Morningside inning in the sixth retook the lead as Elijah Rude scored Zach Hefty with a single, Kiolbassa singled in Rude, and Calabrese hit a double to bring in Kiolbassa and Nick Grajeda. 

Midland got a run back in the top of the seventh, but another big inning for Morningside kept the Warriors at bay as Rude scored Eddie Brancato, Grajeda scored Hefty, and Kiolbassa scored Aidan Agosta, who was pinch running for Rude, to open up a 9-4 lead.

The Warriors took over the scoreboard at that point, scoring six runs while Morningside stalled out on the basepaths.

Kiolbassa had a three-hit day, driving in a pair of runs. Brancato had three hits, reaching base in the second spot in the lineup. Calabrese had a pair of extra base hits for four RBIs, Rude followed with two hits for a pair of RBIs, Grajeda had one RBI on a pair of hits, and Willers and Bishop each had two-hit games.

Morningside falls to the elimination bracket, and will play Northwestern tomorrow at noon, hoping to stay alive in the tournament.