The Charger baseball team battled against cross-town rival Morningside in a four-game series this past weekend in Sioux City.
Game one – L, 3-1
The Mustangs scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the early lead. In the top of the third inning, the Chargers looked to chip into the lead following singles from Jake Christianson and Cael Walrod. The Mustangs were able to strand the two runners to maintain the two-run lead.
In the top of the sixth, the Chargers loaded the bases with two outs after Raenan Padilla was hit by a pitch. Christianson drew a walk with the bases loaded to drive in the Chargers' first run.
Nick Hays tossed six innings, recording five strikeouts while surrendering seven hits. Cade Marquardt recorded two hits (2-for-4) at the plate.
Game two – L, 4-1
A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning gave the Mustangs an early one-run lead.
In the top of the sixth, Nico Sall evened the score with a home run to left-center field. Morningside answered in the bottom of the eighth with a three-run homer to regain the lead.
The Mustangs turned a game-ending double play in the ninth to secure the win.
Damon Schmid recorded two hits (2-for-4), while Greyson Kay added a hit in the contest. Johnny Reed pitched three innings and surrendered one run on three hits while recording two strikeouts. Brendan Ward tossed five innings, allowing two hits while striking out two and issuing two walks.
Game 3 – W, 7-0 (at Bishop Mueller Complex)
Brock Saya, on the mound, tossed a seven-inning complete game shutout, recording six strikeouts while surrendering just three hits and issuing two walks.
A two-out single from Marquardt set up a two-run blast from Grant Devecsery in the next at-bat to give BC an early lead.
In the bottom of the third, Kaden Allred scored on a wild pitch to extend the Chargers' lead to three. Padilla added a sacrifice fly, and Greyson Kay capped off the inning with a three-run home run over the left-field wall to give BC a 7-0 advantage.
Marquardt went 2-for-4 at the plate, while Kay finished 2-for-2 with a walk.
Game 4 – L, 7-5 (at Bishop Mueller Complex)
Sall put BC up 2-0 in the first inning with a two-run home run over the right-center field wall.
The Mustangs responded in the top of the second, taking a 6-2 lead, capped by a grand slam from Romani Perez.
Zach LaMont came in relief in the second inning for BC and tossed 6.1 innings, allowing just one run on five hits while recording three strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fifth, Sall recorded his second home run of the game to cut the lead to three. In the bottom of the eighth, Sall went deep again to bring the Chargers within three. An RBI single from Connor Neubeck later cut the deficit to two.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Chargers threatened after Schmid drew a walk with two outs to load the bases. The Mustangs forced a ground ball on the next at-bat to preserve the win.
Sall finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a walk. Brett Sitzman tossed 1.1 innings, allowing just one hit while recording three strikeouts. Devecsery and Neubeck each tallied two hits.
The Chargers move to 18-21 (11-9 GPAC) and will host the Dordt Defenders next Friday at the Bishop Mueller Complex. Game one is slated for 1 p.m., with game two to follow shortly after.
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