DWU baseball lands eight on All-GPAC Honorable Mention list

MITCHELL, S.D. – Coming off another trip to the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament, the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team saw eight players earn All-GPAC Honorable Mention status on Wednesday.

 Senior Tramane Moore (Los Banos, Calif.) led the team in batting average for most of the year, finishing with a .338 batting average, while recorded nine doubles, two home runs and 21 RBIs to go along with six stolen bases. The transfer from City College of San Francisco played outfield for the Tigers as a senior, while also starting a few games behind the dish.

 Tyler Waddle (Huron, S.D.) led the Tiger offense with 11 doubles and had 21 RBIs. Waddle started in 46 games as a senior to go along with a .322 batting average.

 In 98 at-bats, City College of San Francisco transfer Branden Oropeza (San Francisco, Calif.) tallied a .306 batting average, while adding 22 RBIs, nine doubles and three home runs.

 Zach Uttecht (Pierce, Neb.) was a mainstay at first base this season for DWU. Uttecht finished with a .295 batting average, eight doubles and four home runs. He also recorded a .985 fielding percentage in 44 games.

 Slugger Jared Neilan (Pierre, S.D.) led the offensive attack with eight home runs and 37 RBIs. He led the team with 160 at-bats to go along with a .225 batting average.

 Senior closer William Lutjen (Miller Place, N.Y.) tallied seven saves and had a 2.66 ERA in 14 appearances.

 Freshman Dom Boerger (Milbank, S.D.) finished with a 5-3 record in his first year as a Tiger in 53 and two-thirds innings of work. He also tallied two complete games in nine starts.

 Patrick Whetham (Garretson, S.D.) was the ace of the staff in 2017. He recorded a 4-5 record in 11 games and two complete games. He led the DWU pitching staff in strikeouts with 66 to just 19 walks.

 Despite graduating 13 seniors, Head Coach John Greicar brings back experienced youth and talented signees that will look to make an impact next fall.