Lewiston, Idaho — Gerald Ceballos homered twice and his two-run blast in the top of the ninth snapped a 7-all tie to lead Sterling of Kansas past The Master’s College 9-7 Monday morning, eliminating the Mustangs from the 2016 Avista-NAIA World Series.

The Mustangs, who went 1-2 in the double-elimination tournament, finished the season 42-19.

After watching his team play its final game of the season, head coach Monte Brooks said of his club, “This was a remarkable series to end an incredible season for a wonderful group of young men. It was a privilege to be their coach and a joy for me to see them play.”

Ceballos’ second homer of the day, a shot over the left field fence, came off Mustang reliever Aaron Alexander and capped a come-from-behind rally for the Warriors, who trailed 7-5 after seven innings.

Notably, Ceballos’ first shot of the morning, another two-run job, finished off a three-run first inning against Mustang starter Jason Karkenny as the Warriors scored first and last en route to the victory. They drew first blood against the Mustang righthander earlier in the frame on a double and a single.

Two innings later, the Warriors strung together a walk, a passed ball, and a single to extend their lead to 4-0 lead.

The Mustangs, who had been frustrated at the plate through their first two at-bats, took it out on Warrior starter Jose Rendon in the last of the third inning, using an error and two long flies to score three times.

Max Maitland led off the frame and reached on a Warrior miscue. He wasn’t on base very long because Brandon Van Horn stepped to the plate and took a Rendon offering over the left field fence, slicing the deficit in half. It was Van Horn’s 11th homer of the season.

Michael Sexton drew a walk off the rattled Warrior hurler and Nick Covello followed with a double to deep center field. With runners at second and third, David Sheaffer plated Sexton with a sacrifice fly and Covello moved to third, where he was stranded as the Mustangs ended the inning down 4-3.

It stayed that way until the last of the sixth when the Mustangs pieced together a single, a sacrifice bunt, and another Warrior mistake to tie the game. Jonah Jarrard led off the inning with a single to shallow right field, moved to second base on a Pearson Good sacrifice bunt, and scored on another Warrior error to even the game 4-4.

It didn’t stay that way very long as the Warriors picked on Karkenny in the top of the seventh inning, parlaying a couple of two-out singles and a double steal into a 5-4 lead.

The Mustangs answered quickly in the last of the frame, vaulting ahead with three runs. Sexton sparked the outburst with a leadoff home run over the left field fence to even the game again. It was his 17th roundtripper of the campaign and the club’s record-setting 82nd and last of the season.

They weren’t done yet, either. Covello followed with a single and he raced to third base when Sheaffer doubled down the left field line. Collin Nyenhuis’ sacrifice fly to left field scored Covello with the tie-breaking run and when Good singled to center field an out later, courtesy runner Danny Lutz (running for Sheaffer) sprinted home with the run that gave the Mustangs a 7-5 advantage.

That two-run lead didn’t even last half an inning as the Warriors struck back against Karkenny in the top of the eighth, chasing the junior hurler with two runs on three hits to tie things up one final time. Karkenny wound up going 7 1/3 innings in his final start of the year, surrendering seven runs (tying a season-high) on 11 hits.

Alexander (4-2) got the final two outs of the frame, however, he wasn’t as fortunate in the top of the ninth when Ceballos took him deep with the game-winner.

The Mustangs sent the potential game-tying batter to the plate twice in the last of the ninth, but couldn’t come through against Warrior pitcher Kade Wagner.

The club’s 12-hit attack was paced by Sexton, Covello, Sheaffer, and Good, who had two hits apiece.

So, an outstanding 2016 campaign comes to an end for the Mustangs, one marked by Brooks’ 600th career victory, a GSAC Tournament championship, a NAIA Opening Round crown, and the team’s third appearance at the NAIA World Series.