Mustangs earn 'gritty' win over No. 24 Bellevue

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — On Monday, the Morningside University baseball team approached its 7-6 win over No. 24 Bellevue with the intensity of a crucial conference matchup.

Morningside (29-12-1) scored six of its runs unanswered late to grab the ranked win at Bishop Mueller Complex, and it tied the season series with the Bruins after an April 1 loss down in Omaha.

"That was a gritty win for us," said head coach Adam Boeve. "To watch our guys recover from a big inning and to go out, Mason Rego did a good job putting up zeroes. Kade Yasui, he's pitched about as good as he's pitched all season. Just effective with all his stuff."

Morningside scored first in the first inning, thanks to a Michael Snyder RBI single that scored Ryan Kiolbassa.

Bellevue's big inning happened in the second with four runs, but Rego responded well with two scoreless innings.

During the bottom of the fourth, the Mustangs cut their deficit back to 4-2 with an RBI single from Jaxon Bunkers. The Mustangs then tied the game in the fifth inning with an RBI groundout from Giacomo Crosetti, then an RBI single from Luke Blackmon.

Morningside's big hit came immediately after Blackmon's RBI single. Sam Wilt, the designated hitter in Monday's game, hit a hanging slider over the wall for a two-run home run that gave the Mustangs a 6-4 lead.

"I was down 0-2 in the count, and I took a big swing, and that was a big spot," Wilt said. "I was just trying to hit a line drive. I got one."

Snyder tacked on the seventh Mustangs' run with an RBI single down the left field line during the sixth inning. Michael Delzell scored on that play.

Bellevue threatened with two runs in the eighth inning, but Morningside got out of the inning with a putout by Snyder with a Bellevue runner trying to steal second base.

Owen Hess then came in the ninth inning for the save opportunity. The Bruins led off the inning with a double, and advanced the runner over to third base. Hess' first two outs were strikeouts, then the third out might have been the most dramatic of the afternoon.

Jake Lacey hit a fly ball to center field, but Connor Woods had a near-perfect read on it. Woods caught the ball on the warning track before colliding with the wall, but he held onto it to record the out.

"We were ready to attack the game from the time it started," Boeve said.

Yasui earned the win in relief.  He pitched three innings, and allowed two earned runs on three hits. He struck out three. Sam Hanson and Hess pitched scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth. 

Wilt pointed out that while the beginning of April didn't go their way, they're trying to end it on a strong note: "We got three wins against Waldorf, and this is big," Wilt said. "Right now, we're treating every game like it's the biggest game of the season. The next one after this one is going to be huge after that. We need to keep stacking on."