Mustangs Sweep Opening Doubleheader Against Graceland; Win Streak Reaches Six

LAMONI, Iowa - The Mount Mercy baseball team swept the weekend opening doubleheader against Graceland, winning by scores of 8-0 and 7-2, as the team's win streak reaches six games.

Game One

The Mustangs (10-10) were paced on offense by two-hit outings from four players: Riley Rundquist, Joel Vaske, Kyle Moeder, and Cedric Dunnwald. Rundquist, Moeder, and Drake Frazier would also all finish with two RBI's.

As a flashback of the series finale against Benedictine, Riley Rundquist got the scoring started with a leadoff homerun in the second inning, marking the fourth leadoff homerun by the Mustangs in two games. Kyle Moeder would follow that up with an RBI single to center field, making the score 2-0 after two innings.

In the third, Moeder would drive in his second RBI of the game on a single to right center field, bringing in Derek Einertson, as the lead reached three. Rundquist would drive in another in the top of the seventh on a single to left field, scoring Jaden Hackbarth. The scoring in the seventh wouldn't stop there, as Trent Hoogerwerf singled to left, driving in Brandon Bickford. Frazier would single to center field in the seventh to drive in Vaske and Brady Sadler, rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs.

Kyle Lehmann earned his second win of the season, pitching a complete game shutout while only allowing three hits and striking out four.

Game Two

In the nightcap, the Mustangs saw multi-hit performances from Josh Notriano and Riley Rundquist, as three Mustangs would end the game with multiple RBI's. Rundquist, Lehmann, and Brandon Bickford would all strike twice in the win.

In the first inning, Hoogerwerf flied out to right field, driving in Tyler Dahm, making the score 1-0. Graceland would answer with an RBI groundout in the second. In the third, Lehmann would single and advance on an error by the left fielder, as Einertson and Rundquist would come across to score. Bickford would follow that up with a single of his own, and following another error by a Graceland outfielder, two more runs would cross the plate as Mount Mercy took a 5-1 lead after three innings of play.

In the fourth, Rundquist tacked on two more runs on a single up the middle, scoring Ryan Knowlton and Notriano. The Yellow Jackets would answer as Antonio Graham scored on a passed ball in the seventh, but that wasn't enough as the Mustangs cruised to another victory.

Matt Irvine earned the win, pitching five innings while only allowing one run and striking out five. Mason Krogsgaard was tabbed with the loss, pitching three innings and allowing five earned runs.

The Mustangs and Yellow Jackets will round out the weekend series on Saturday in Lamoni.