Mside continues league standings climb

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Thirty runs and 28 hits for the home team greeted a warm late April afternoon on Mercy One Field at Lewis and Clark Park Saturday, April 23.

Morningside University, one of the Great Plains Athletic Conference's hottest teams of late, didn't show any signs of slowing down in a 9-7, 21-11 sweep of Siouxland rival Northwestern College. Winners of nine of their last 12, head coach Adam Boeve's crew kept the heat on the upper half of the loop standings, moving a game behind Briar Cliff University for fourth and two in back of Mount Marty University for third. 

Offense was the name of the game from the start. In the opener, a seven-run bottom of the fourth was the key. Freshman catcher Jayson Willers (Davenport, Iowa) crushed a grand slam for the pivotal hit. The quartet of junior Carter Ades (Sioux Falls, S.D.), sophomore Aiden Bishop (Lincoln, Neb.), freshmen Jacob O'Dell (Northridge, Calif.), and Alex Calabrese (Omaha, Neb.) tallied two hits apiece.

The nightcap continued the theme. With a gusty southwest wind blowing straight out, two home runs, five doubles, and three triples delighted the fans. A 10-run Mside fourth inning was the difference. Bishop doubled and drove in three; O'Dell produced four hits and two RBI; and freshman center fielder Hunter Jenkins (Bakersfield, Calif.) homered and drove in three to top the parade. 

The Mustangs (26-14, 12-10 GPAC) close out conference regular-season road action Monday, April 25. They travel to Dakota Wesleyan for a 1 p.m. league twin bill.

NOTES: Sophomore starting pitcher Wade Canaday (Marshalltown, Iowa) won for the third time in his last four outings in game one, going to 6-2 … Junior Caleb Thomsen (Libertyville, Ill.) was a victor for the fourth time in his last five starts in game two, improving his record to 5-1. His ten strikeouts marked the second successive contest he's registered double-digits Ks … O'Dell registered his fourth and fifth multiple-hit outings in the last eight games. He's averaging a stratospheric .500 in the span.