Mustangs trample McPherson in NAIA Tournament

SHREVEPORT, La. – The Mustangs, making their first NAIA appearance since 2016, defeated McPherson (Kan.) 10-4 in the opening round of the Shreveport bracket Monday afternoon.

McPherson got on the board first, hitting a solo home run to lead off the game and added another run in the bottom of the first inning. Morningside wasn't able to respond until the top of the third inning. 

Eddie Brancato hit an RBI-single, followed by an Elijah Rude RBI-ground out and a wild pitch to score Brancato. Ryan Kiolbassa drove in the final run of the top of the third on a ground out to give Morningside a 4-2 lead. 

McPherson responded with two quick runs in the bottom of the third inning. In the top of the fifth, a 4-4 tie was broken on a Jayson Willers double. In the top of the sixth, Brian Garcia doubled in two more runs, followed by a Brancato RBI-single. Garcia and Brancato each drove in another run in the top of the eighth to make it 10-4 Mustangs.

Kai Purdy-Burton pitched seven-and-a-third innings in the start for the Mustangs. He struck out four batters and gave up two earned runs. Josh Pratt recorded the final two outs of the eighth and Josh Thurman pitched a scoreless ninth inning to seal an opening round victory for the Mustangs.

At the plate, Eddie Brancato was a steady bat all afternoon, going four-for-five with three singles, a triple, a run scored, and three RBI. Brian Garcia went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI. Alex Calabrese went 3-for-5 and Willers 2-for-4. Hunter Hope scored three of Morningside's 10 runs. The Mustang bats went 6-for-19 with runners in scoring position to help the offense. 

The Mustangs remain in the winners' bracket of the double elimination opening site tournament. They will play again at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) against the winner of LSU-Shreveport and MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.).