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Photo of Alisha Krieg Alisha Krieg, a senior outfielder from Kingsley, Iowa, has been named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII College Division Softball Second-Team.

Krieg has a 3.84 cumulative grade point average and is majoring in psychology counseling.

She is the Mustangs’ leading hitter this season with a .429 batting average to go along with four doubles, one triple, a team-high nine home runs, 40 RBIs, 33 runs scored, and six stolen bases. She has struck out only eight times in 154 at-bats.

Student-athletes must be of at least sophomore status and have a minimum GPA of 3.20 in order to be eligible for ESPN The Magazine All-Academic honors.

Mustangs To Face Dana For NAIA Region III Softball Crown

Amanda Martines

Morningside rallied to stay alive in the loser’s bracket with a 2-1 victory in nine innings against Minot State University and will face GPAC rival Dana College in Friday’s championship game of the NAIA Region III Softball Tournament in Sioux City.

The Mustangs rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning against Minot State to extend the game into extra innings and won it on a RBI double by Amanda Martines in the bottom of the ninth.

Morningside, 40-11, will have to beat Dana twice on Friday in order to win the Region III title and with it a berth in next week’s NAIA National Tournament in Decatur, Ala. The championship game is slated for noon with a 2 p.m. second game if needed.

Dana, the surprise team of the tournament as the No. 8 and final seed, defeated Morningside 1-0 earlier on Thursday in the winner’s bracket final behind another superlative pitching performance by Cassie Lager. Lager twirled a two-hitter at the Mustangs for her third straight shutout and she has allowed only eight hits in 21 innings during the tournament.

Lager walked five and struck out six in the win against Morningside. The only hits she allowed were a second inning single by Martines and a third inning single by Kylie Helmink.

Mustang ace Kelly Baumert pitched a four-hitter and blanked the Vikings through the first six innings before Dana plated an unearned run in the top of the seventh inning when the Mustangs committed their only two errors of the game. Baumert finished with two strikeouts and no walks.

The only run that Baumert allowed in the win against Minot State was also unearned. That came in the top of the sixth inning when Kayla Mitchell singled to drive in Janessa Penner, who had singled and gone to second base on an error earlier in the inning.

Mitchell pitched six shutout innings before her defense let her down in the seventh when the Mustangs tied the score after the Lady Beavers kicked the ball around for three infield errors.

Morningside didn’t need any help in the ninth inning when Kendra Klein walked, advanced to second on a single by Whitney McElrath, and scored on the double by Martines.

Martines had two doubles, while McElrath and Jerra Steffen each had two singles to lead the Mustangs’ hitters.

Baumert finished with a five-hitter with one walk and five strikeouts.

Dana Box Score

Minot State Score

Hoffman Wins Steeplechase At Last Chance Meet

Kasey Hoffman

Kasey Hoffman, a senior from Watertown, S.D., won the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase at Thursday’s University of Sioux Falls Last Chance track & field meet in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Hoffman ran a winning time of 9:59.22 for a victory margin of six seconds over his closest competitor.

The Mustangs also had a pair of runner-up finishes. Erin Keitges, a sophomore from Allen, Neb., finished second in the women’s 1500-meters with a time of 4:54.22, while Christopher Nordstrom, a junior from Minneapolis, Minn., finished second in the men’s 800-meters with a time of 1:58.57.

Mustangs Bow Out At NAIA Region III Baseball Tourney

Nate Gomez

Morningside was eliminated from the NAIA Region III Baseball Tournament in Mayville, N.D., when the Mustangs lost 12-2 against GPAC regular season champion Northwestern College in Thursday’s consolation bracket action.

Northwestern pitcher Mike Zoellner no-hit the Mustangs into the fifth inning and finished with a three-hitter with three walks and 12 strikeouts.

Zoellner didn’t give up a hit until Nate Gomez slugged a home run with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning and by then the Red Raiders were already up by a 10-0 score.

Northwestern led just 2-0 before it broke the game open with an eight-run fifth inning.

Mustang ace Wade Morrison allowed only one hit through the first four innings before he was relieved five batters into the fifth inning. Codie Zeutenhorst chased Morrison when he slugged a three-run home run and Brad Payne had a two-run home run later in the inning.

The Mustangs plated their final run in the sixth inning when Tom Kohl doubled and came home on a Bret Hoch groundout.

Northwestern had only one hit when it scored two runs in the top of the first inning. The hit was a single by Grant Wall. Austin Malone, who had walked earlier in the inning, scored the first run on a throwing error by the shortstop following Wall’s hit and Wall eventually came home on a groundout by Zeutenhorst.

Northwestern collected 11 hits against Mustang pitchers Morrison, Steven Aschinger, Eric Delich, and Brad Donovan. The Mustangs’ hurlers combined for five walks and five strikeouts.

Morningside’s hits were the home run by Gomez in the fifth, Kohl’s double in the sixth, and a single by Lewis Dobie in the seventh.

The Mustangs finished the season with a record of 32-17.

Mustangs Announce Track & Field MVPs

Morningside College announced its MVPs for the indoor and outdoor seasons at its recent track & field awards banquet.

Ryan Gass, a freshman high jumper from Valentine, Neb., and Jacob Trettin, a senior middle distance runner from Grafton, Iowa, received the field event and runner MVP awards for the men’s indoor season. Gass was the high jump champion and Trettin placed third in the 800-meters at this season’s Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Indoor Championships and they were NAIA national qualifiers in the events.

Brad South, a sophomore javelin thrower from Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Sean Howell, a sophomore sprinter from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, received the field event and runner MVP awards for the men’s outdoor season. Howell won the javelin at last Saturday’s GPAC Outdoor Championships and is a NAIA national qualifier. Howell finished seventh in the 400-meters at the GPAC Outdoor Championships.

Anne Torkelson, a junior high jumper-sprinter from Norfolk, Neb., and Kara Nelson, a freshman distance runner from Cherokee, Iowa, received the field event and runner MVP awards for the women’s indoor season. Torkelson was the runner-up in the high jump and placed fourth in the 400-meters at this year’s GPAC IndoorChampionships. She was a NAIA national qualifier in the high jump. Nelson finished second in the 3000-meters at the GPAC Indoor Championships and ninth in the event at the NAIA Indoor Championships.

Vanessa Warzecha, a junior javelin thrower from Aloha, Ore., and Erin Keitges, a sophomore distance runner from Allen, Neb., were the field event and runner MVP award winners for the women’s outdoor season. Warzecha was the javelin champion at the GPAC Outdoor Championships and is a NAIA national qualifier. Keitges placed second in the 3000-meter steeplechase and third in the 5000-meters at the GPAC Outdoor Championships and is a NAIA national qualifier in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

Most Improved awards were presented to Josh Steinhoff, a junior from Smithland, Iowa, in the sprints; Blair Lawton, a junior from Inwood, Iowa, in the distance events; and Amber Price, a sophomore from Shelby, Iowa, in the field events.

Mustangs Go 2-0 On First Day Of Region III Softball Tourney


Amanda Martines	Kelly Baumert

Morningside advanced to the winner’s bracket final of the NAIA Region III Softball Tournament after the Mustangs went 2-0 during Wednesday’s opening day of action at the three-day tourney being held at Sioux City’s SYA Complex.

The Mustangs, fresh off winning last week’s GPAC Tournament, opened the day with a 9-1 six-inning romp against Northwestern College and then posted a 6-2 triumph against Midland Lutheran College. Morningside will take a 39-10 record into Thursday’s winner’s bracket final against Dana College.

The Vikings, 24-18, rode the pitching arm of Cassie Lager on Wednesday. Lager twirled a two-hit shutout with seven strikeouts to lead Dana to a 1-0 upset win against No. 1 seed Dickinson State University in the first round. She then pitched a four-hit shutout with another seven strikeouts in a 3-0 win against Minot State University.

The Mustangs’ first round win against Northwestern was all Kelly Baumert in a matchup against Northwestern’s Lexy Determan that pitted this year’s two GPAC Co-Pitchers of the Year.

Baumert allowed only three hits and blew the ball past the Red Raiders for eight strikeouts while hurling five shutout innings. Determan struck out six batters, but lasted only three innings and left trailing 4-0. The Mustangs collected five hits against Determan, who hurt her own cause with five walks.

Amanda Martines led the Mustangs with a triple and single and two RBIs and Kylie Helmink supplied a double and single and two RBIs. Megan Tuttle had a double and single and Whitney McElrath also had an extra base hit with a double.

The Mustangs took a 4-0 lead in the third inning on a RBI single by Martines, a bases loaded walk to Steph Loeschen, and a two-run double by Helmink.

Morningside finished Northwestern off with a five-run sixth inning that featured a two-run single by Jerra Steffen and a RBI triple by Martines.

The Mustangs posted a wire-to-wire win against Midland Lutheran behind a three-run first inning. Alisha Krieg slugged a home run to drive in the first two runs and the third run came courtesy of another RBI triple by Martines.

Midland Lutheran scored two runs in the top of the sixth to close within 3-2. The Mustangs answered in the bottom of the inning with a two-out, two-run single by Loeschen and a RBI single by Alyx Peery.

Martines had a triple and single to pace a seven-hit Mustang attack.

Baumert pitched a six-hitter with no walks and nine strikeouts.

Northwestern Box Score

Midland Lutheran Box Score

Mustangs Drop 18-10 Slugfest At Region III Baseball Tourney


David Manceaux	Jason Wysong

Morningside dropped into the loser’s bracket at the NAIA Region III Baseball Tournament in Mayville, N.D., after it lost 18-10 in an opening round slugfest against Dickinson State University on Wednesday.

The Mustangs, 32-16, will play a loser’s bracket game on Thursday at 10 a.m. against the loser of the first round game between Jamestown College and Northwestern College.

Dickinson State collected 18 hits against the Mustangs’ pitching contingent of Gabe Shockman, Dan Lipari, Jason Semprini, Kyle Smith, and James Brouillette. All 18 of the Blue Hawks’ runs came in the first six innings.

The big hitters in the Dickinson State lineup were Dan Boudreau, who went four-for-five; Mark Wiley, who slugged a triple and two doubles; and Tony Isbell, who hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning.

Morningside used the long ball to account for much of its scoring, starting in the first inning when David Manceaux blasted the first of his two home runs on the day with a two-run blast. Bret Hoch, who was hit by a Bryan Visser pitch, was on board for Manceaux’s roundtripper.

Manceaux’s other home run was a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh.

The Mustangs’ other home runs were a two-run shot by Hoch in the sixth inning with Lino Esparza on base after a single and a solo blast by Jason Wysong in the fourth.

Manceaux’s two home runs led an 11-hit Morningside offensive attack. Wysong had a home run and double and Tom Kohl also had two hits with a double and single. The Mustangs’ other hits were a home run by Hoch and singles by Esparza, Jason Engleman, Nate Gomez, and Jared Noteboom.

Tyler Opitz relieved Visser to start the fourth inning and allowed five runs on six hits over the last six innings to get the win. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.

Morningside’s pitchers combined for four walks and eight strikeouts.

Rother Named Mustangs MVP

Jack Rother was named the Mustangs' men's basketball MVP when the team held its post-season awards banquet.

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Klein And Baumert Earn GPAC Player And Pitcher Of The Year Honors

Kendra Klein, a junior third baseman from Remsen, Iowa, has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Player of the Year and Kelly Baumert, a sophomore pitcher from Omaha, Neb., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Co-Pitcher of the Year to headline the Mustangs’ selections on the 2008 All-GPAC Softball Team as selected by the leagues’ head coaches.

They are joined on the All-GPAC first-team by Alisha Krieg, a senior outfielder from Kingsley, Iowa.

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Mustangs Announce Wrestling Recruits

Morningside head wrestling coach Tim Jager has announced the names of 10 high school recruits who will join the Mustangs next season.

The headliner is Travis Taylor, a 125 pounder from Callender, Iowa, who lost only five matches during a four-year varsity career at Prairie Valley High School. Taylor posted a 149-5 career record and was a one-time state champion and a two-time state runner-up in the Class 1A 119 lb. division. He had a 40-1 record and was the Class 1A 119 lb. state runner-up this past season.

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Hoch Named GPAC Player Of The Year

Bret Hoch, a sophomore outfielder from South Sioux City, Neb., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Player of the Year to headline the Mustangs’ selections on the 2008 All-GPAC Baseball Team as selected by the leagues’ head coaches.

Hoch is joined on the All-GPAC first-team by Wade Morrison, a sophomore pitcher from Arroyo Grande, Calif.

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Mustangs Announce Women's Basketball Recruits

Morningside women’s basketball head coach Jamie Sale has announced the names of seven high school recruits who will join the Mustangs next season.

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