Morningside Picks Up Pair of Victories Over Mount Mercy

OMAHA, Neb. – Morningside picked up another pair of runs earlier today, winning games one and two of a four-game series against the Mount Mercy Mustangs, 1-0 and 6-3.

Cade Nolan threw a gem on the mound for Morningside in game one, striking out six and giving up just one hit in the seven-inning shutout as he faced just 24 batters, three more than the minimum. 

It was Mason King that drove in Dylan Conahan in the second inning to put Morningside on the board. Conahan entered the game at first base after Hayden Hixon was hit by a pitch. The speedy redshirt freshman moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a Jaxon Bunkers single, and scored on a bunt single by King. The early run ended up being the only score in the contest, as Morningside recorded six hits, led by Bunkers, who had two.

Morningside opened the floodgates early in game two, scoring four runs in the top of the first, as Mount Mercy faced some early control issues, walking Michael Delzell before Jacob O'Dell and Michael Snyder were both hit by pitches. A sacrifice fly for Luke Blackmon scored Delzell to put Morningside on the board. Connor Maston was hit by another pitch before a Hixon RBI scored O'Dell and an error scored Snyder. Bunkers coaxed another walk, with a passed ball scoring Maston from third before the inning came to its end.

Mount Mercy responded, scoring its three runs of the contest off of two hits and a walk off of Tiago Sanchez. Sanchez would settle in and pick up the win in 4.2 innings, while Zach Neer threw 1.1 and picked up the save.

Morningside returns to action tomorrow against Mount Mercy, with two more games getting underway at noon at Creighton Prep High School in Omaha.