CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Grand View split the final series of the regular season against Mount Mercy University. The Vikings took the pair of games in the middle and clinched the regular season Heart of America Conference title for the first time in school history! Grand view ended the season 33-9 and 26-6 in conference games to earn this honor.
GAME 1 | GRAND VIEW 0, MOUNT MERCY 1
The first game of the series went to the 10th to decide the winner. Grand View's Kaleb Krier pitched through 7 straight scoreless innings. With 95 pitches thrown, he earned four strikeouts and only gave up five hits.
Grand View had a rough game at the plate and credit to starter Nagelbach of Mount Mercy. The Vikings only found three hits in the game and nothing was done.
Noah Kueter came in to pitch in the eighth inning and had a strong start. Kueter went three up, three down with a strikeout. The ninth inning found another strikeout for the senior and gave up just one hit. Grand View couldn't get anything going on the offensive end, and Kueter let up the lone run of the game after some wild pitches that advanced the runner to third, just before. A great pitching performance but GV came up short, 0-1.
GAME 2 | GRAND VIEW 9, MOUNT MERCY 6
The second game on Friday had a much different result. Grand View got on the board early with a Brock Rinehart double down the line to give the Vikings their first run of the series.
Mount Mercy drew blood in the bottom of the second with three runs and added another in the third to put Grand View behind, 1-4.
Grand View picked up the pace in the fourth though. GV led the inning with two singles by Hank Himrich and Brook Heinen. Later in the inning, Bryce Stalder reached on a walk and loaded the bases with just one away. Heinen scored on a wild pitch which called for a pitching change by MMU. Pergkamp served a bases-loaded single through the right side and earned two RBI's. Rinehart earned himself an RBI with a fielder's choice and gave GV the lead, 5-4.
The Vikings played great team ball the following inning to tack on another run. Himrich singled on a hard ground ball through the left side of the infield. Heinen did his job next, as he advanced Himrich to second on a sac bunt. And with two away, Stalder went the other way on a double which gave the Vikings a two run advantage.
Moist gave up one more run in the bottom of the fifth but finished the inning with minimal damage. Moist gave up five runs on seven hits and had much help from his defense. Moist exited with the Vikings up one run and a chance to give Moist another win on the year. Jacob Wolver had a beautiful display in the sixth as he retired three batters on fly outs to right field. Stalder fielded all three with no issues to enter the last inning of regulation up one.
Grand View earned some insurance in the top of the seventh. Carson Wadel found his way on with a walk to start the inning, and Stalder put runners at the corners with a single of his own. Brock Johnson found a gap between the 6-5 hole and brought in a run. Patrick Bergkamp put down a sacrifice bunt but reached on an error at first and an RBI was awarded as Stalder crossed the plate. Tyler Lewnau put together a great at-bat and did his job with a sacrifice fly to center and put the Vikings up four runs.
Devin Doyle came in to close for GV and though he gave up a solo home run, he also struck out two batters and a fly out ended the game 9-6. This was Doyle's eighth save of the season and proved to be Moist's seventh win this season with zero losses.
GAME 3 | GRAND VIEW 12, MOUNT MERCY 7
Grand View had a steady offense in game two. After nothing going in inning number one, the Vikings scored at least one run in every inning to follow. Wadel earned an RBI single in the second inning to put GV up. MMU hit a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning to tie it up but the Himrich changed the tie game in the third. Himrich pulled a ball deep to right field that left the ball park. This brought in Borst and Lewnau as well and the Vikings were suddenly up three.
Noah Schlup took care of the third, fourth and fifth inning. Schlup only faced 10 batters in the three innings but not without help. Himrich hosed down a runner digging for extra bases and a beautiful tag got the runner at second. In the fourth inning, Schlup went 1-2-3, with two strikeouts.
The Vikings earned a run in the fourth, but stranded three in the inning, holding them from a big inning. GV earned another two runs in the fifth which included a Johnson RBI single to center.
Schlup started to get in a bind during the bottom of the sixth, and Jacob Wolver came in. Wolver gave up a couple runs but limited the damage, getting out of the inning with a 9-5 Vikings lead entering the final inning.
Grand View added breathing room with a Rinehart single that brought in lead-off Brock Johnson. Then, with bases loaded, Himrich turned on a ball down the right field line and brought in two more runs.
Wolver ended on the mound and struck out two batters in the final inning. The game ended 12-7 and this officially made the Vikings regular season Heart of America Conference Champions!
GAME 4 | GRAND VIEW 7, MOUNT MERCY 8
The last game of the regular season took extra innings. Grand View was put in a hole early, with a four run first inning for the Mustangs.
GV responded with two runs in the second inning, on RBI singles from Bergkamp and Himrich.
The Vikings didn't add anything in the third or fourth inning and were down 2-6 entering the top half of five. Weston Barber added a run for GV on a single to right center field. Then GV dug their teeth in. Grand View continued their great success with two outs this season, as Bergkamp found a two out single to bring in Himrich. Just after this, Johnson came up as the go-ahead run and cashed that in. Johnson struck a three-run home run late in the sixth, and the Vikings took their first lead of the game, 7-6.
Mount Mercy found themselves in survival mode but tied up on a solo shot in the seventh. Grand View didn't get anything going after a leadoff single from Wadel in the eighth. MMU found a run in the bottom of the inning and GV split the series 2-2.
GAME NOTES
UP NEXT
Grand View baseball goes to the Heart of America Conference Tournament which starts next week in Ozark, Missouri. Grand View will play their first game on May 2nd, at 5 PM.
2025 HEART OF AMERICA CHAMPIONS
