Vikings, Statesmen eliminate Mustangs from Heart championship

OZARK, Mo. — Sixth-seeded Mount Mercy was eliminated from the Heart of America Athletic Conference Baseball Championship on Friday by seventh-seeded William Penn, one day after coming up short in an opening round matchup with third-seeded Grand View at US Baseball Park.

Jeremy Figueroa led off Thursday's contest with a home run and two innings later Evan Paulus laced a two-run double that had the Mustangs in front of the Vikings, 3-2, after three frames. That was all the offense Mount Mercy could muster, however, as Grand View got a two-run homer in the sixth and an RBI single in the eighth to get their fifth win over the Mustangs this season, 5-3.

Figueroa finished with two of Mount Mercy's six hits and scored twice. Kyle Lehmann (6-4) allowed three earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts in 5-2/3 innings. Joe Gabel went the final 2-1/3 innings, surrendering one hit and an earned run with four strikeouts and a pair of walks.

Friday's elimination game pitted the Mustangs against the Statesmen for the fifth time in less than a week. The teams split a four-game series at William Penn last weekend. The Statesmen jumped on top early, scoring four first-inning runs and never looking back. Mount Mercy got two more hits from Figueroa and a pair of RBI from Paulus again, but their defense didn't help their cause. The Mustangs committed five errors that led to three unearned runs.

Mount Mercy finished its season with an overall mark of 28-22.