Conference honors four senior Mustangs

By Erika Brighi - Sports Editor

Entering the tournament with a sixth seed, the Mustangs softball team fell out of the bracket after a loss to Clarke College.

The Mustangs began the MCC tournament against Grand View on Thursday in Moline, Ill. at the Greenvalley Softball Complex.

The Vikings scored two runs during the bottom half of the first inning, starting themselves off with a 2-0 lead.

During the top of the second Senior Katie Strain reached on an error by Grand View’s pitcher, allowing Freshman April DeFauw to score the Mustangs first run.  Four batters later, Senior Tara Herzberger’s single RBI brought Strain home to tie the game.

The score remained tied until the bottom of the sixth when the Vikings scored off a passed ball.
Down one run in the seventh, the Mustangs had the bases loaded with two outs. Senior Danyl Spivey’s pop up ended the inning, and the game at 3-2.

Going into day two with a chance to redeem themselves, the Mustangs won the first two games against Ashford and Viterbo before falling to Clarke College.

The Mustangs beat Ashford Friday 6-3 during a single seven-inning game.
Senior Meredith O’Brien pitched the full seven innings, allowing three earned runs off six hits.  The senior also struck out seven.

Three senior Mustangs, Herzberger, Mary Wells and Spivey all ended the game 2-for-3 at the plate.

During the bottom of the fourth Herzberger brought in two runs on a double, while Wells RBI double brought in the third and final run of the inning.

Both Herzberger and Sophomore Amber Shulte scored on passed balls, while O’Brien’s ground out allowed Wells to score the last run of the game.

Next up for the Mustangs was Viterbo University.

A run in the first inning from Herzberger was enough to give the Mustangs the 1-0 win over the Hawks.

Strain pitched the full seven-inning game. The senior didn’t give up a single run off five hits while striking out seven.

Mount Mercy ended their season with a 7-4 loss to Clarke College.

A two-RBI double from Spivey and a RBI single from Strain in the bottom half of the first allowed the Mustangs an early 3-2 lead over the Crusaders.

Clarke tied the game during the third on an RBI single, and later took a 6-3 lead in the fourth.

The Mustangs tried to steal back the lead, but Herzbergers RBI single allowing Megan Frank home wasn’t enough. Mount Mercy couldn’t put another run on the board while Clarke put single runs up in the sixth and seventh, taking the game and ending the Mustangs season with a 7-4 win.

The Mustangs who ended last season (9-28, 4-17 MCC) more than doubled their overall wins and tripled their conference wins, ending 22-20 and 12-14 in the conference.

Four senior Mustangs ended their careers with conference honors. Herzberger, O’Brien, Srain and Wells were all named to the 2008 all-conference honorable team.