Morningside bats stay hot in Sunday sweep

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Mustang baseball program is 4-0 to start the season after scoring 39 runs in 14 innings Sunday in wins over Roosevelt and Graceland. 

Trailing by 10 runs after five-and-a-half innings of game one against Roosevelt, the Mustangs needed a boost. They got one in the bottom half of the inning, scoring eight runs to cut the lead to two. Eddie Brancato doubled in the first run of the inning, but that was just the beginning. 

Hunter Hope doubled in a pair of runs, Elijah Rude hit his second of two home runs to bring in three more and Ryan Kiolbassa singled in a pair of runners to cap the eight-run bottom of the sixth. The work wasn't done though, as the Mustangs trailed by two heading into the bottom of the final frame.

Brian Garcia tripled to bring in the first run and scored on a Rude fielder's choice to tie the game. Carter Ades was the hero the Mustangs needed, as his RBI-single sealed the comeback victory.

Earlier in Sunday's opener, Hunter Jenkins hit a three-run home run to make it a 6-3 Roosevelt lead in the second. After Roosevelt extended the lead to six, Rude hit his first home run of the game to center field, bringing in three runs and making it a 9-6 game. A big seven-run fifth stretched the lead to 10 for the Lakers, but Jayson Willers doubled in Ades and scored on a passed ball. Aiden Bishop followed that up with a sacrifice fly to bring in a third run. 

Rude's bat proved to make the biggest difference in the box score in game one, as he went 4-for-5 with two home runs and seven RBI. Ades had three hits, including the walk-off single to win it for the Mustangs. Jenkins had three hits, including a three-run blast, and Brancato added three more base knocks. 

While it wasn't the best outing for the Mustang pitchers, Tanner Vercellino recorded the final four outs on the mound, giving up no hits and striking out one to record the win.

The Mustang bats stayed blistering in game two, but the pitching staff made strides by holding Graceland at bay in the 19-4 win. Aiden Bishop pitched four-and-a-third innings in the win, giving up four runs. The bullpen of Tom Leathem and Jackson Stephen combined for the final eight outs, striking out three and allowing one hit. 

Despite Graceland taking the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, Morningside's offense exploded in the third inning, scoring seven runs in that inning alone. Kiolbassa hit an infield single to bring in the first run for the Mustangs. From there, Willers hit a three-run home run, Hope tripled to bring in two more, and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-1.

The Mustangs continued to pour it on in the fourth, as Kiolbassa hit an RBI-single, Bishop hit a two-run triple, and Rude hit an RBI-single to make it a 10-run lead.

If the seven-run third wasn't good enough, the Mustangs tacked on nine more in the sixth. Jenkins doubled to bring in the first two runs of the inning. Garcia singled home Jenkins, Dylan Ades doubled to bring home Garcia, and Willers singled home Ades and Zach Hefty. The final three runs came off the bat of Nick Grajeda, who doubled home Brancato, Calabrese, and Bishop.

The Mustangs head to Kansas this weekend for a four game series with Friends Friday and Saturday in Wichita.