Senior Day sweep gives ‘Stangs share of second place

Photo by Jonah Gleason, Morningside Sports Information Intern

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Winning three out of four games in a series against any opponent is a good weekend, but winning three out of four against the no. 15 team in the nation, including a sweep of Senior Day? That's exactly what the Mustangs did this weekend as they took to the diamond with Concordia University.

It was an eight-run second inning that gave Morningside a lead to work with in the day's opening 14-12 win over the Bulldogs. An inning that started with an Aiden Bishop single, followed by a Cade Nolan walk, and a Trent Lawrence bunt to put runners on second and third. Brian Garcia coaxed a two-out walk to load the bases again, and an Eddie Brancato pop fly misplayed by the left fielder brought in three runs.

A Jayson Willers single kept the inning alive and scored Brancato from second, Ryan Kiolbassa singled to move Willers' courtesy runner, Kaleb Bleil, over, and Giacomo Crosetti walked to load the bases again. Bishop came to the plate for the second time in the inning, where he laced a double to left field to clear the bases again. Connor Maston took Bishop's spot at second, and quickly stole third and took home on a wild pitch to close Morningside's scoring for the inning.

Morningside would add another three runs in the third and three in the fifth as the teams exchanged blows. Joe Harris, who took Bishop's spot on the mound in the fifth inning, took the win in 1.1 innings of work. Chance Nolan threw a shutout 1.1 innings to collect the save, striking out the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics career home run record holder on the way.

The Mustangs would repeat the feat of batting around in the bottom of the eighth inning of game two, when, down 7-4, Bishop started a comeback with a walk. Cade Nolan sent a single to left field, moving Bishop over. Luke Blackmon, in as a pinch hitter, laced a double to right field, scoring Bishop and sending Cade Nolan to third. 

Jacob O'Dell then sent a single into center field that turned into a little league home run as the center fielder misplayed the ball. Blackmon and Cade Nolan both scored easily on the initial single, with O'Dell coming in behind them thanks to the error.

Garcia restarted the rally, singling up the middle, moving to second on a Brancato single and to third thanks to a Willers single. Kiolbassa was hit by a pitch, moving the runners, with Bleil in for Willers, up a bag and scoring Garcia. Brancato took home on a wild pitch, with the other runners moving up behind him, and Crosetti filled the open bag as he was also hit by a pitch. Cade Nolan advanced the runners, scoring Bleil, as he grounded out to first, with Bleil representing the final Mustang run of the day.

With an inning standing between him and the win, Tanner Vercellino retook the mound for his second inning of work, striking out a pair of batters before being lifted for Josh Pratt, who, like Chance Nolan in game one, struck out the NAIA home run king and collected the save.

Morningside's next outing comes on Tuesday as it plays a single nine-inning game against Bellevue at 6 p.m. at Lewis and Clark Park's MercyOne Field.