[Baseball] Carrasco, Stephen help Mustangs take Vikings

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Mount Mercy dropped the first of a three-game set with Grand View this weekend, but solid starts by Abraham Carrasco and Joseph Stephen led to a pair of Mustang victories in the final two games of the Midwest Collegiate Conference series at Ken Charipar Field.

Grand View (11-18, 4-2 MCC) got to senior right-hander Matthew Salas (2-2) for seven runs in Saturday's opener, but the Vikings had to hold off a Mount Mercy rally in the seventh inning to edge the Mustangs, 7-6. Senior right fielder Brent Pankow, senior first baseman Chris Sargent and junior third baseman Jacob Thompson had two hits apiece and senior designated hitter Rafael Del Rio had a home run and three RBI for the Mustangs.

Carrasco (5-1), a junior righty, pitched a complete game in the nightcap. He allowed just two earned runs on six hits while striking out two and walking none in Mount Mercy's 9-3 victory. Senior left fielder Kevin Turner went 2-for-3 with a homer and two runs batted in. Pankow collected two more hits and junior Vincent Pantaleo had a pinch-hit, two-run single in Mount Mercy's decisive, six-run sixth inning.

Stephen came through with another quality start on Sunday. The junior right-hander went 6 2/3 innings, surrendering only one earned run on six hits while striking out eight without a walk. Junior righty Saul Zambrano pitched 2 1/3 innings of hitless and scoreless relief in Mount Mercy's 5-1 win. Del Rio homered again while Pankow and Sargent had multi-hit games for the second time in the series. Sargent also drove in a pair of runs.

Four non-conference games at Benedictine (Ill.) are on the schedule this week for Mount Mercy (16-13, 5-3 MCC). The teams will play two games on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. and another doubleheader on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. in Springfield, Ill.