Mustangs break out the bats to sweep Briar Cliff

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Eighteen games in, and the Morningside University baseball team keeps impressing head coach Adam Boeve game after game.

The Mustangs (15-2-1, 3-1 GPAC) took both games of a Great Plains Athletic Conference doubleheader by scores of 6-3, then forced the 10-run rule on the Chargers in Game 2, 13-3. These contests were bumped up earlier due to forecasted weather this weekend.

"It's never easy to get a GPAC sweep over a really good team in Briar Cliff, and I was really proud of going back-to-back days and playing as well as they did," Boeve said. "The depth of our lineup is so impressive. Our guys on the bench are so hungry to get their opportunities. When you put a lineup and your bottom three guys can put together quality at-bats, that makes it really tough on our opponents."

Game 1: Mustangs 6, Chargers 3

Five of the six Mustangs runs scored came from the home run. Giacomo Crosetti got the scoring started with a two-run blast to left center field that put the Mustangs up in the first inning.

Then, Conner Maston added a double that scored Crosetti to make it a 3-0 game.

Jacob O'Dell continued the home run parade with a two-run shot to left center, scoring Corder Noun Harder, who courtesy ran for Maston. Luke Blackmon hit the fourth homer of the game for the Mustangs in the fifth inning to round out the scoring.

Blackmon and Maston each had three hits.

Maston earned the win, pitching all seven innings. He struck out 11 on 100 pitches. He allowed three earned runs off six hits.

"Conner has just been a stud on the mound, and at the plate," Boeve said. "To see him in conference play pitch as well as he did was exactly what we needed."

Game 2: Mustangs 13, Chargers 3

After allowing an early run, the Mustangs quickly responded with four of their own in the first inning. Crosetti again put the Mustangs on the board first, as he drove home two runs in the first.

Then, Michael Snyder scored Crosetti with an RBI single, and Connor Woods entered the fourth run with an RBI single that scored O'Dell.

Morningside's scoring wasn't done there. It added five more runs in the sixth inning. The Mustangs sent 11 men to the plate, and collected four hits. Ryan Kiolbassa, Crosetti, Blackmon, and Snyder each had run-producing hits. Crosetti hit a triple, while Kiolbassa and Blackmon got singles. Snyder's run came from a bases-loaded walk.

In the seventh inning, the Mustangs scored four times from two hits. Three different Morningside hitters were hit by a pitch, including Nathan Thomas' game-ending RBI.

Crosetti drove in three runs, while O'Dell, Snyder and Woods had two RBIs.

Tiago Sanchez got the win, pitching six innings. He struck out 10 Chargers, and walked just one. He allowed two earned runs on four hits. Sanchez threw 98 pitches, and he found the strike zone 61 times.

"Tiago got a lot of swings and misses today, and he learned from an early mistake and adjusted," Boeve said. "He has swing-and-miss stuff. He attacked hitters and turned it over to Sam Hanson was huge. His demeanor is highly competitive."