Baseball Finishes Road Series at Mount Mercy With Saturday Doubleheader

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, (March 15, 2025)-  The Missouri Valley College baseball team finished a road heart of America Athletic Conference series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, against Mount Mercy (Iowa), Saturday afternoon.  The Vikings fell in the pair of games to close out the series.

Game one of the day opened with Mount Mercy going on top early, using four hits to produce a 3-0 score.  Missouri Valley got one of those runs back in the top of the second inning, as a Freshman Shortstop Sota Suzuki (Aichi, Japan) double brought home Senior First Baseman Joe Hedger (Logan, Iowa), and cut the deficit down to 3-1.  Junior Pitcher Caleb Monnig (Liberty, Mo.) kept the Mustangs scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, stranding one baserunner.  After a scoreless top of the third, MMU added to its lead in the bottom half, knocking out a two-run homer, to put the score at 5-1.  The Vikings produced in the top of the fourth, as Hedger worked a leadoff walk, and was replaced by Junior Pinch Runner Spencer Searcey (Denver, Colo.).  Later in the at-bat, Suzuki drove home Searcey with a sac-fly, and MVC trailed, 5-2.  Senior Pitcher Caleb Bergman (Alma, Mo.) took over on the mound in the bottom of the fourth, and worked around a one-out double to strand two runners on-base. 

Missouri Valley tried to rally in the fifth inning, as Junior Leftfielder Shumpei Kaneko (Saitama, Japan) opened with a single, followed by a double from Senior Third Baseman Connor Bell (San Diego, Calif.).  Two outs later, Hedger came to the plate, and drove home the pair of baserunners.  The go-ahead run reached safely, as Senior Pinch Hitter Jayden Mah (Nanaimo, British Columbia) walked, but MVC left two runners on-base, trailing, 5-4.  The Mustangs put together three hits in the bottom half of the inning, and scored two runs to stretch the advantage out to 7-4.  The Vikings were kept scoreless in the top of the sixth, and MMU again added to its lead, making it an 8-4 score.  Missouri Valley put two runners on-base in the seventh inning, as Junior Centerfielder Mason Mitchell (Littleton, Colo.) doubled and Hedger was hit.  However, the two were left on-base, and the Vikings fell, 8-4.

Both Kaneko and Bell had two hits and one run apiece, while Hedger had one hit, one run and two RBIs.  Suzuki finished with one hit and two runs driven in.  Monnig picked up the loss, going three innings with seven hits and five earned runs to go with one strikeout.

The second game featured Mount Mercy going in front early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning, then adding another five runs in the bottom of the second.  Missouri Valley was unable to work back into the game, and another two runs from the Mustangs in the fifth inning finished out a 9-0 final score.

The losses drop Missouri Valley to 8-11 overall and 4-4 in the Heart.  Mount Mercy improves to 10-10 on the season and 5-3 in the Heart.

Up next, the baseball team will play a road non-conference game at Columbia (Mo.), Wednesday beginning at 4 p.m.

Game 1 Box Score-Click Here

Game 2 Box Score-Click Here

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.