Mustangs Fend Off Wildcats and Vikings; Clinch NAIA Postseason Berth for Second Consecutive Season

OZARK, Mo. - The Mustang baseball team kept their season alive, fending off both Baker and Grand View to clinch a spot in the Heart of America title game, while clinching an NAIA naitonal tournament appearance for the second consecutive season.

Game One

Baker was able to snag an early lead as Jaidon Bowers drove in the first run of the game on a single to left field. It was then Kolden Howerton who singled to center to drive in a second run, as Baker took a 2-0 lead after two and a half innings.

From there, it was all Mustangs, as Jeremy Figueroa drove in a run on a groundout to second base, while Derek Einertson drove in a run to tie the game at two after four innings of play. Bryce Brown gave the Mustangs the lead in the fifth on a double to left, while coming across later in the inning on a wild pitch as the Mustangs held the lead after five.

In the sixth, Jaden Hackbarth drove in his first run of the game on a double to right field, while Nick Meyer would tack on one more in the seventh, scoring Josh Notriano. In the eighth, Figueroa doubled down the left field line to score Hackbarth, while Tyler Pecson drove in two on a single to center field, driving in Brown and Notriano. The Wildcats would get one back on a single to center in the ninth, but the Mustangs held on to eliminate Baker.

Tyler Nagelbach delivered his best game of the season with the Mustangs season on the line, throwing all nine innings in a complete game while allowing three runs and striking out three. John Green was tabbed with the loss, throwing less than an inning while allowing two earned runs.

Game Two

Facing off against top-seeded Grand View, the Mustangs struck first on a Cedric Dunnwald triple, scoring Einertson. The Mustangs would strike for two more in the fifth as Figueroa blasted a homer over the left field wall while Notriano singled to right, scoring Brown. In the sixth, Notriano added another RBI, this time on a double to right field, while Einertson drove in one on a single to right, as the Mustangs took a 6-0 lead heading into the bottom half of the sixth.

Grand View finally got on the board in the sixth on a double to left, but Hackbarth would quickly answer with a single up the middle, scoring Dunnwald and Drew Terpins. The Vikings would answer with three straight over the seventh and eighth innings, cutting the Viking deficit in half at 8-4. 

But it was Bryce Brown who put the game to bed with a two-run single to left field, scoring Hackbarth and Yahirdavi Ortiz. The win marks four straight wins for the Mustangs when facing elimination in the Heart tournament, none more important than this, clinching a spot in the Heart championship while also clinching the conference's second automatic qualifier to the NAIA national tournament.

Ashton Schwab earned the win, throwing just over six innings and allowing just four hits and two runs while striking out two. Noah Schlup was tabbed with the loss, throwing four innings while allowing nine hits and three runs.

The Mustangs will face off in the tournament title game against Central Methodist tomorrow at 10 a.m. The Eagles clinched the conference's first automatic qualifier spot yesterday with a title game appearance.