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The weekend Benedictine and Graceland doubleheaders have been cancelled
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Bill Meacham |
Jeff Gacke |
Morningside outscored Briar Cliff 14-11 on Thursday at Briar Cliff’s Bishop Mueller Field to win round one in the first of four scheduled baseball games between the two city rivals this season.
The Mustangs, who improved their record to 9-13, slugged four home runs in the victory, including a pair of roundtrippers by Kelly Kotlik. The Mustangs’ other long balls came off the bats of Bret Hoch and Jared Noteboom. For Noteboom, his two-run shot in the first inning was his fourth home run in the last three games to raise his season’s tally to seven blasts.
Bill Meacham didn’t go yard, but he contributed four hits to the Mustangs’ 18-hit attack, including a pair of doubles. Kotlik had three hits, including his two home runs, while Noteboom, Kyle Smith, and Steven Aschinger each had two hits.
Morningside’s pitching standout was Jeff Gacke, who pitched 3.1 innings of hitless and scoreless relief to notch his second save of the season. Gacke walked one, struck out two, and retired 10 of the 11 batters he faced. Gacke has not allowed a run over his last six appearances and has allowed only five hits in 13 innings over that span.
The Mustangs opened a 9-0 lead before Briar Cliff scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth. Five of the Mustangs’ runs came in the first inning when Noteboom and Kotlik connected for back-to-back home runs.
Mustang ace Wade Morrison blanked the Chargers through the first three innings before the hosts solved him for five hits in their six-run fourth. Morrison gave up six runs, four of them earned, on 10 hits in a five-inning stint to get the win. Morrison walked two and struck out five.
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