Midland slips past Mside in wild and woolly conference clash

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Two relentless offenses.

The fans crowded into Jensen Family Softball Complex Tuesday, April 26, enjoy plenty of run-scoring and long-ball hitting as two of the Great Plains Athletic Conference's and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' local region top programs went to the wire in both ends of a 15-inning battle that left most folks breathless. The No. 11-ranked Mustangs clouted six big flies. The visiting Warriors of Midland University, receiving votes on the recent national listing, laced five of their own as the two perennial league powers combined for 35 runs.

As darkness slowly approached the Maroon's home field with the final out of game two, Midland had managed to take a pair of nip-and-tuck contests 9-8 in eight innings and 10-8 to hold the conference lead by percentage points over Morningside. Both teams still have pivotal road trips to conclude the year, as head coach Jessica Jones-Sitzmann's squad travels to the University of Jamestown Saturday, May 1, and MU, led by head coach Mike Heard, goes to Dakota Wesleyan University Thursday, April 29, and Northwestern College Saturday, May 1.

Both outings could have turned out differently. The Mustangs, dropping to 39-6 overall, had the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, with the score tied at 8-8 in the opener when senior designated player Ashton Whited (SR/Elkhorn, NE) (Elkhorn, Neb.) hit a laser down the third baseline. However, Midland third baseman Ronni Foote dove for the catch and doubled the runner off third to force the game into the eighth, where a solo home run by designated player Sierra Athow was the difference. Morningside put together another big comeback in the nightcap after a six-run second for the visitors put them behind 8-2. Jones-Sitzmann's squad put the tying and eventual winning run at the plate in its final at-bat but couldn't get any closer than the two-run deficit.

Junior catcher Mykel Gray (JR/Ames, IA) (Ames, Iowa) and sophomore outfielder Vanessa Bohusvalsky (David City, Neb.) tallied three hits each in game one. The headline, despite the tough defeat, was the feat accomplished by junior infielder Morgan Nixon (JR/Omaha, NE) (Omaha, Neb.) and senior infielder Lexie Stolen (SR/Sioux City, IA) (Sioux City, Iowa), though. Bolstering a three-run fifth inning to the delight of the home crowd, each of them tied the single-season home run record with their 14^th big fly of the season.

In game two, junior infielder Bre Tjebben (Fort Dodge, Iowa), senior outfielder Carson Cameron (SR/Herman, NE) (Herman, Neb.), Bohusvalsky, and Nixon each finished with two safeties. Tjebben also scored three runs. Whited figured into the offensive output with a pair of RBI.

Mside faces off against the Jimmies Saturday with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Trapper Field in Jamestown, N.D.