Mustangs Split First Two Games of Heart Tournament

OZARK, Mo. - The Mount Mercy baseball team opened up the Heart of America tournament with a loss to Park, and extended their season with a win over Culver-Stockton in the elimination bracket, defeating the Wildcats by a score of 11-5.

Game One

In the 6-5 loss against Park, the Mustangs were led on offense by Bryce Brown, tying a team high with two hits while driving in a team high two RBIs.

The Mustangs opened the scoring on a Josh Notriano double to right center, scoring Brown in the first inning. In the third, Jeremy Figueroa doubled to right center, scoring Jaden Hackbarth, while Brown added a two-run shot to make it a 4-0 lead.

Park would answer with two in the third, but the Mustangs would respond with a Derek Einertson single, making it a 5-2 lead. But the Pirates would come back strong, tying up the game in the fifth, capped off by a two-run single to center. In the eighth, a double to center field would drive in the game winning run, as Park would close the game down in the seventh.

Eddie Freidel earned the win, throwing two innings of relief while not allowing a hit. Cole Conner was tabbed with the loss, throwing one inning in relief and allowing one earned run.

Game Two

In the win over Culver-Stockton, four Mustangs would record multiple hits, led by Figueroa and Drew Terpins, each recording two hits and three RBIs.

The Mustang offense once again started in the first inning as Figueroa and Notriano drove in runs. Hackbarth and Figueroa would account for three more in the second, increasing the Mustang lead to five. In the third, the Mustang lead would climb, as Notriano scored on a throwing error, while Terpins added two more runs on a double to left field. Cedric Dunnwald capped off the inning with an RBI fielders choice, scoring Griffen Bushnell.

In the fifth, Terpins would strike once again, singling to left to drive in Yahirdavi Ortiz. The Wildcats would then get on the board, scoring five unanswered runs to cut the lead in half, with four runs coming in just the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Garrett Dennis singled to right, scoring Brown, capping off the offense in the game.

Matt Kelliher earned the win, throwing 3.1 innings in relief, while allowing the five runs while also striking out four. Clayton Woods was tabbed with the loss, throwing two innings and allowing three earned runs.

The Mustangs will next face off against the loser of Central Methodist and MidAmerica Nazarene in an elimination game, scheduled to take place tomorrow in Ozark.