Mustangs sweep Yellowjackets, extend streak to five

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- A late rally in the series finale allowed the Mount Mercy baseball team to extend their winning streak to five games with a weekend sweep of Graceland in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex.

Offense was at a premium on Saturday, especially in the series opener. A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning by Jake Faur (SR/Clinton, Iowa) plated David Mitchell (JR/Barrington, Ill.) for the only run of the game in a 1-0 win for Mount Mercy. Left-hander Blake Willenborg (SR/Central City, Iowa) (6-0) was brilliant again for the Mustangs, tossing 6-2/3 innings of no-hit ball while lowering his earned run average to a league-best 0.76. Willenborg struck out 10 batters in the complete-game victory.

Game two wasn't decided until the final frame as Joshua Neyens (SO/Urbandale, Iowa) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh to give Mount Mercy a 4-3 decision. Kaimana Souza-Paaluhi (JR/Mililani, Hawaii) had an RBI single in the third and Spencer Wiskus (SR/North Liberty, Iowa) ripped a 2-run single in the fifth for the Mustangs. Skylar Frese (SR/Watkins, Iowa) (1-0) got the win in relief of lefty Kobey Schlotman (JR/Coralville, Iowa), who struck out eight in 5-1/3 innings. Frese allowed two hits with four strikeouts in the final 1-2/3 innings.

Mount Mercy only managed two hits in Sunday's opener but got a pair of unearned runs during a 3-run third inning and a 2-run, opposite-field homer by Wiskus in the fifth to get a 5-2 victory. Left-hander Dylan Campbell (SR/McKinleyville, Calif.) (3-1) went 5-2/3 innings, surrendering one earned run on three hits while striking out nine and walking two. Frese picked up his third save.

Trailing 7-5 in Sunday's finale, the Mustangs scored three runs with two outs in the sixth to win 8-7. Chili Moseley (SR/Eldridge, Iowa) and Souza-Paaluhi walked to start the rally, then Nick Sueppel (SR/Iowa City, Iowa) doubled to right-center field to tie the game, 7-7. Wiskus followed with a run-scoring single to plate Sueppel with the go-ahead run a batter later. Faur finished up with a clean seventh inning to get his third save. Zach Barden (FR/Cedar Rapids, Iowa) (1-0) was the winning pitcher after getting the final two outs of the sixth inning. Sueppel finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBI. Wiskus went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and Souza-Paaluhi ended up 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored.

Mount Mercy (19-7, 8-4 Heart) will host a cross-division series with Baker (12-12, 6-4 Heart) later this week. First pitch will be 1:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Plaster Athletic Complex.