Mustangs Walk-Off Grand View to Win Home Finale

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Mustangs would honor 15 seniors on the home finale, splitting with Grand View after dropping the first game 12-7 before walking off the Vikings in game two, 8-7.

Game One

Grand View opened the scoring with a Carson Wadel single to right field, driving in Evan Borst. Derek Einertson would start the senior day festivities with a solo shot to left squaring the game up at one. But Grand View would not go down quietly, tallying eight runs between the third and sixth innings off of two separate homers, as Hank Himrich delivered a three run blow while Borst added a two run shot.

In the sixth, the Mustangs would claw back, scoring four. Notriano delivered the first RBI of the inning on a single to shortstop, while Yahirdavi Ortiz scored on a passed ball. Einertson drove in another run on a sac fly to left, while Drew Terpins added an RBI single to left field. In the seventh, The Vikings added three more, capped off by a Himrich double down the right field line.

In the bottom half of the inning, Notriano drove in another on a double to left, scoring Jaden Hackbarth. Einertson would then add his second sac fly of the afternoon, scoring Ortiz. The deficit was too much to overcome for the Mustangs, falling in the opener.

Noah Schlup earned the win, improving his record to 4-1, throwing 5.1 innings and allowing three earned runs. Erik Kiewiet was tabbed with the loss, throwing two innings and allowing five earned runs.

Game Two

The Mustangs offense would explode for four runs in the opening frame, as Notriano got the scoring started with a two run single to left. Einertson added an RBI double to right, while Griffen Bushnell added an RBI single to right as the Mustangs jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead.

The Vikings would answer for two in the second as Himrich singled up the middle to drive in one while Patrick Bergkamp singled to center, driving in a second. But the Mustangs would answer with two more over the next few innings on a pair of sacrifice flies.

Over the next two innings, the Vikings would go from down four to up one, capped off by a four-run sixth inning, as Brock Johnson blasted a three run shot to left field. But it was then Figueroa, capping off his senior night with a game-tying solo shot in the seventh to send the game to extras. In the eighth, following the first three batters of the inning reaching, Terpins would strike out, setting up a one-out opportunity for Cedric Dunnwald.

Dunnwald would hit a dribbler back to the pitcher, but the Vikings' Logan Smith would throw the ball away on an attempt to snag Eric Pecson at the plate, as Pecson would score the winning run.

Luke Kehrli earned his first win in a Mustangs uniform, throwing two innings in relief while allowing just two hits. Smith was tabbed with the loss, throwing 0.1 innings while allowing one hit and one walk. 

The Mustangs enter the Heart of America tournament as the four-seed, facing off against Park in the opening round where the winner will take on conference regular season champion Grand View.