Mustang
BASEBALL SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2022
Morningside University takes a three-game win streak into a Great Plains Athletic Conference weekend series Saturday and Sunday, April 2 and 3. The Mustangs (16-7 overall, 3-5 GPAC) take on Mount Marty University. The first two contests against the Lancers (20-7, 6-2) are on the Mercy One Field diamond at Lewis and Clark Park. The final two contests are set for Bob Tereshinski Stadium at Riverside Field in Yankton, S.D.
THE SERIES Morningside has a 49-25 all-time advantage against their northwestern conference foes. The head-to-head theme has tightened of late, with both sides winning four of the last eight.
THE MATCH-UP As a hectic April league calendar begins, the championship and postseason tournament chase picture is still muddied. Two games separate Doane University, Concordia University, MMU, and Briar Cliff University, among the first four spots. That bottleneck theme continues from fifth through eighth, with Midland University, a suddenly-resurgent Dordt University team, the Mustangs, and Northwestern College having a spread of only two games between them, too. Sophomore infielder Aiden Bishop and senior outfielder Hunter Hope belted home runs, part of an impressive nine-run, 12- hit attack for Mside on March 29. The upperclassmen each crushed solo shots in the bottom of the second, enabling head coach Adam Boeve’s squad a solid beginning for a midweek non-conference clash. The Mustangs went back and forth with visiting Bellevue University, ranked No. 11 on the current National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics poll, for five and a half frames. From that point, the hosts plated three runs in the sixth and two more in the eighth to lock up a 9-4 victory over the top-15 ranked Bruins, closing a 10game series skid. Bishop and Hope combined for six runs scored to top the offense. Junior infielder Eddie Brancato, junior catcher Jayson Willers, and Bishop tabulated two hits. Meanwhile, a Bruin offense, hitting at a stratospheric .346 clip coming in, was limited to 10 hits and four runs. Junior Caleb Thomson topped a strong pitching effort with six strikeouts over three innings to gain the win. Freshman Josh Thurman and senior Jordan Kyle proved a potent bullpen combo, striking out seven over the final three innings. Head coach Andy Bernatow’s squad joins Morningside as part of a group of five teams hitting .300 or better. Their .315 mark is spotlighted by a juggernaut .531 slugging percentage, second only to Concordia. Junior catcher Billy Hancock is one of the GPAC and NAIA’s top power suppliers with nine home runs, five doubles, three triples, and 21 RBI. Senior infielder Mason Townsend adds to the sparkling digits with four round-trippers, four doubles, and 30 RBI. The Lancer pitching staff has the GPAC’s lowest combined earned run average (3.68). They’re also one of six loop mound groups averaging 10-or-more strikeouts per nine innings. Morningside has a home and away weekend on the horizon. The Mustangs host defending league champion Concordia University Friday, April 8, at 1 p.m. and travel to the University of Jamestown for a similar start time Sunday, April 10.