Mustangs sweep Doane to lock up No. 3 seed in GPAC Tournament

LINCOLN, Neb. – On the final day of the regular season for Morningside, the Mustangs were able to lock up the No. 3 seed in the GPAC with a sweep of Doane Sunday in Lincoln.

With a pair of wins, the Mustangs finished with an 19-9 record in the GPAC and third place in the standings. Doane and Concordia tied for first with matching 21-7 conference record, but Morningside went 5-3 against the two top teams in the regular season.

The Mustangs won both games Sunday to pass Briar Cliff for third. Morningside won 8-6 and 7-6, needing runs in the final inning of both games to pull out the wins. 

Jayson Willers got the scoring started with an RBI-single in the first inning. The Tigers took a 2-1 lead after two, but Morningside regained the lead with a three-run third and a two-run fourth.

Giacomo Crosetti and Aiden Bishop singled in one run apiece in the third. The other run of the third inning came in on a Cade Nolan ground out. Crosetti singled in two more runs in the fourth. 

The Tigers rallied to score four runs over the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game. After a scoreless sixth, Luke Blackmon hit a two-run home run to make it 8-6 in favor of the Mustangs. Mason Hymer pitched the final two and a third innings without allowing a hit, picking up the win and striking out three batters, including the leadoff batter of the seventh.

Brian Garcia tallied three hits in five at-bats in game one. Willers, Crosetti, and Blackmon tallied two hits each. Crosetti drove in three and Blackmon two. On the mound, Bishop pitched the first four and two-thirds before Hymer locked things down.

Morningside took a 3-0 lead after two-and-a-half innings, but needed three runs in the ninth to steal a win.

All three runs in the third inning for Morningside were scored on pitching mistakes. Willers and Kiolbassa were hit by pitches with the bases loaded and Crosetti walked with the bases loaded to bring in three runs in the third. Doane scored one in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1 after three.

Blackmon hit his second homer of the day to make it 4-1. From there, the Tigers scored five runs between the fourth and eighth innings to lead 6-4 heading into the ninth. With one out in the ninth, Crosetti hit a three-run home run to put the Mustangs ahead 7-6. Hymer recorded the final two outs of the eighth inning, and despite putting two runners on base, pitched his way through the ninth, getting a double play to end the game.

Crosetti finished with four RBI with one hit in game two. Kiolbassa tallied three hits to be the lone Mustang with more than a single hit in game two. Conner Maston pitched the first three innings of the game. Joe Harris pitched the next two, and after Josh Pratt recorded an out via a strikeout, Logan Wakentin pitched two innings, striking out five. Hymer recorded the final five out to earn his second win of the day. 

Due to the head-to-head tiebreaker, Concordia holds the top seed over Doane, but both teams will host their respective sides of the GPAC Tournament. The Mustangs make the trip to Doane to start the tournament, but their opponent is to be decided. As things stand going into Monday, the Mustangs would face Northwestern in the opening round in Crete, Nebraska.