Sweet sweep - One-run decisions start busy week on high note

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Dipping deep into his pitching rotation, Morningside College head coach Adam Boeve got impressive results from a sophomore tandem Tuesday, March 26.

Camden Parks (SO/Omaha, NE) (Omaha, Neb.), gaining his first career start in the opener, spun a pair of shutout innings at visiting Mayville State University. He led off a four-person, three-run, one-earned run, six-hit, six-strikeout performance, as the Maroon tallied a 4-3 victory. The nightcap at Lewis and Clark Park saw more of the same, with Jake Cera (SO/Omaha, NE) (Omaha, Neb.) coming out of the bullpen and notching his first collegiate win with four innings of five-hit ball in which he allowed just one earned run. The home offense managed a single tally in the bottom of the eighth to secure the non-conference sweep with a 3-2 victory.

Offensively, Mside, improving to 15-6 by winning for the seventh and eighth times in their last 11 chances, had many matinee heroes. Sophomore Carter Kratz (SO/Vermillion, SD) (Vermillion, S.D.); senior Drew Kasperbauer (Sioux City, Iowa); junior Dylan Gasner (JR/Austin, MN ) (Austin, Minn.) and sophomore Brandon McClintock (SO/Omaha, NE ) (Omaha, Neb.) each drove in runs in game one with Kasperbauer finishing with a pair of hits. Kasperbauer's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth decided game two, while Kratz came back with another run-scoring hit, and sophomore Braden Smutz (SO/Lake Stevens, WA) (Lake Stevens, Wash.) added an RBI safety.

The Maroon resume a six-game weekly set with a Great Plains Athletic Conference series against Mount Marty College Saturday and Sunday, March 30 and 31. Game times are 1 p.m. each with Sunday's doubleheader taking place at LCP.