Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
Highlights | The Pioneers are still just 1 game out of first in the West after a weekend split with Graceland. Peru State leads the West with 2 games left on their schedule, and MNU has a 4-game series at Benedictine this weekend. In Game 1, Graceland hit a 3-run homer in the top of the second inning and the Pioneers couldn't recover. The Yellowjackets scored another in the fourth and 2 more in the sixth before the Pioneers started to rally. Two 2-run homers from
Clayton Brandt and
Joe Smith cut the deficit to 1, but Graceland held on for the 6-5 victory.
Ricco Moreno (1-3, 2 R),
Clayton Brandt (1-2, R, HR, 2 RBI, Sac),
Tyler Meeks (1-1, R, RBI, HBP, SF) and
Joe Smith (1-2, R, HR, 2 RBI, HBP) led the offense.
In Game 2,
Caleb Barnum shut down the Graceland offense into the ninth inning while the Pioneers built a 3-0 lead. MNU took the lead in the second inning when
Ricco Moreno's RBI groundout turned into 2 runs after an errant throw. Tommy Mark's sacrifice fly in the sixth extended the lead, but Graceland mounted a comeback in the ninth. With one out, Graceland singled 3 straight times to bring in a run and put the tying run on base. After a strikeout, Graceland singled again to get a run closer and put the tying run in scoring position, but
Colin Starr's back pick nabbed the runner on first to preserve the 3-2 victory. Barnum (3-1) struck out 7 in 8+ innings,
Trent Hedlund picked up the save, and
Dillon Moeller (1-2, R, 2B, SB, 2 HBP) &
Clayton Brandt (2-4, R, SB) led the offense.
MNU is 21-17 (14-8 HAAC). The next series is a 4-game set over the weekend at Benedictine (17-18, 13-9) starting at 1:00.
