[Baseball] No shortage of offense in series win over Bees

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Mount Mercy baseball team scored 27 runs in three games, and needed every one of them to take two of three games in their weekend series with St. Ambrose at Ken Charipar Field at Xavier High School.

A four-run seventh inning broke open a tie game, giving St. Ambrose a 14-11 victory in Saturday's opener. The two teams combined for 25 runs on 33 hits and four errors in the three-hour game. Five Mustangs had at least two hits, led by junior left fielder Alex Heumann, who went 5-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBIs for the Mustangs. Junior first baseman Jeremy Glunt also homered and finished 2-for-4 with four runs batted in. Junior designated hitter Paul Franco collected a pair of hits and two RBIs. Sophomore catcher Chris Sargent and junior shortstop David Rodriguez had two hits apiece.

Mount Mercy took command of the nightcap early on, getting RBI singles by Glunt and Franco and a two-run homer by junior center fielder Dustin BeGuhn in the bottom of the first inning in a 7-4 win. Heumann extended his hit streak to eight straight at-bats before popping up to first base in his final plate appearance. He was 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the Mustangs. Glunt went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and Franco ended up 2-for-3 while driving in three runs. Senior left-hander Brandon Gosse (3-3) was the winner, and senior righty Derrick Weber picked up the save.

A hit batsman was the difference in Sunday's series finale, which featured 24 hits and eight errors. Franco was drilled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to give the Mustangs (12-13, 4-6 MCC) a 9-8 win. Junior catcher Rafael Del Rio homered and finished 2-for-5, while Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Franco drove in two runs and sophomore third baseman Jacob Thompson had two hits. Sophomore right-hander Phil Hotchkiss (1-4) got the win in relief.

Mount Mercy hosts William Penn (17-12, 3-8 MCC) in an MCC doubleheader on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. at Xavier. The Mustangs travel to La Crosse, Wis., for a three-game set with Viterbo (Wis.) this weekend. First pitch is 1:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.