Game Time...Northwestern College will host Morningside for the 2018 GPAC Baseball Tournament-Northwestern Bracket championship on Monday, May 7. First pitch of game one is scheduled for noon. With a win, the Red Raiders will advance to play in the GPAC Baseball Tournament Championship on Tuesday night at 6pm in Orange City. A Morningside win at the noon game will force a winner-take-all bracket championship game at 3pm against the Red Raiders, with that winner advancing to Tuesday night's tournament championhship.

Northwestern, the top overall seed and GPAC regular season champion, is 28-18 on the season, 2-0 in the postseason. Morningside, the No.5 seed, is 22-24-1 overall, 2-1 in the postseason.

Follow the game(s) live via the NWC webcast at this link: Watch Now!

How They Got Here...Northwestern is the lone unbeaten team left in the bracket, owning a 2-0 record with wins over Briar Cliff (8-7) and Hastings (7-1). Morningside is 2-1 in bracket play, losing to Hastings in game one (8-1) but coming back to defeat Briar Cliff (4-1) and Hastings (10-5) in elimination games.

Previous Match-Ups...The Red Raiders are 2-2 against Morningside this season, splitting with the Mustangs in the final weekend of the year in Sioux City. Northwestern lost 4-2 and 1-0 on April 27 but came back with 10-1 and 13-8 victories on Saturday to clinch the GPAC regular season title.

Scouting Reports...

    Morningside Mustangs: 14-12 (5th), 22-24-1          Head Coach: Adam Boeve (1st year)

The Mustangs finished fifth in the GPAC regular season with a 14-12 record, earning the No.5 seed in the GPAC Tournament. They closed the regular season with a 7-3 record, winning seven straight before losing a pair to Northwestern on the final Saturday. Morningside is 22-24-1 on the year, actually tying Vanguard (Calif.) 6-6 in a game called due to darkness on March 7.

Boeve, a former assistant coach for the Red Raiders and Head Coach Brian Wede, is in his first season as the Mustangs skipper. He inherited a Morningside team that returns four starters in the batting line-up, 10 pitchers and a total of 19 players from a 2017 team that went 18-10 in the GPAC, 35-22 overall.

By the Numbers: (GPAC rank)
    Batting Average: .289 (6th)      Opponent Batting Average: .293 (7th)
    Runs / Game: 5.4 (7th)             Runs Given Up / Game: 5.6 (7th)
    Hits / Game: 8.7 (3rd)               Hits Given Up / Game: 8.7 (7th)
    Stolen Bases: 27/34 (9th)        Stolen Bases by Opponent: 58/76

    Individual Players:
    Nate DeChaine (3x All-Conference): .366 BA (5th), 37 runs (6th), 13 HR (1st), 49 RBI (1st)
    Sam Huska: .329 BA, 21 runs, 14 2B (4th), 2 HR, 31 RBIs
    Dylan Mersola (All-Conference): .325 BA, 36 runs (7th)
    Joe Genoways: .284 BA, 25 runs, 7 HR (6th), 32 RBIs (10th)

    Elliott Conover (All-Conference): 0-2, 2.63 ERA, 9 saves 24 IP, 32 K's
    Richard Mitchell (All-Conference): 7-4, 3.48 ERA, 75 IP (3rd), 12 BB, 60 K's
    Spencer Wyant: 2-1, 4.88 ERA  24 IP, 5 BB, 21 K's

Northwestern College: 19-7 (1st), 28-18     Head Coach: Brian Wede (12th year)

The Red Raiders won the GPAC regular season title with a 19-7 record, three games in front of second place Midland, to earn the No.1 seed in the postseason tournament. They have won 11 of their last 13 games heading into Monday, owning a 28-18 overall record.

Coach Wede, in his 12th season as the head of the Red Raiders baseball program, has guided teams to four GPAC regular season and two postseason titles during his tenure. Wede is the all-time winningest coach in program history with 344 wins.

By the Numbers: (GPAC rank)
    Batting Average: .291 (5th)       Opponent Batting Average: .276 (4th)
    Runs / Game: 5.8 (4th)              Runs Given Up / Game: 4.8 (3rd)
    Hits / Game: 8.6 (5th)                Hits Given Up / Game: 8 (5th)
    Stolen Bases: 34/57 (7th)          Stolen Bases by Opponent: 53/65

    Individual Players:
    Zachary Rosson: .355 BA (9th), 20 RBIs
    Christian Stekl: .331 BA, 39 runs (3rd), 18 RBIs
    Matt Martin: .324 BA, 27 runs, 5 HR (T10th), 35 RBIs (7th)
    Dustin Gaither (All-Conference): .324 BA, 23 runs, 15 2B (2nd), 32 RBIs
    Reed Smith (2x All-Conference): .324 BA, 38 runs, 5 HR, 27 RBI
    
    Noah McBride: 6-2, 3.48 ERA (6th), 64.2 IP, 57 K's
    Tanner Ortlund: 1-2, 3.79 ERA, 9 Saves (1st), 19 IP, 23 K's
    Mitchell Kresnik: 6-2, 3.97 ERA, 56.2 IP, 9 BB (1st), 39 K's