Baseball secures fourth seed in GPAC Tournament
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – With two games remaining before postseason play, the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team secured a fourth seed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament after splitting games with Morningside College Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – With two games remaining before postseason play, the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team secured a fourth seed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament after splitting games with Morningside College Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa.
Drew DeMers (Winner, S.D.) opened the first game for the Tigers with an RBI single to left field to put the Tigers up early. DeMers scored moments later following a Morningside error to put DWU up 2-0.
The Mustangs (26-17, 14-13 GPAC) took the lead in the second inning with an RBI single and an error, giving Morningside a 3-2 advantage.
But, the Tigers (22-21, 16-12 GPAC) answered with a two-run third frame. Kyle Bailey (Brandon, S.D.) doubled down left field, bringing Reed Harter (Colome, S.D.) home for the score. One batter later, JT Miller (Sioux Falls, S.D.) reached on a fielder's choice, while Chandler Bakley (Martin, S.D.) scored off a Mustang error.
Just as it happened earlier, Morningside regained the lead with a two-run fourth inning with two runs coming home after a Tiger error. This proved to be too much as the Mustangs took the opening game, 5-4.
DeMers went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored, as Miller tallied a run batted in and Bailey finished 1-for-4 with an RBI. Gunnar Johnson (Gresham, Ore.) pitched six innings and struck out three batters.
In the second game, the fielding of both teams kept the scoreboard clean in the beginning innings. In the fourth frame, Miller opened the scoring with an RBI single to left field. Joseph Hanisch (Hartford, S.D.) followed that up with another RBI single, this time to right field.
Landon Neugebauer (Mitchell, S.D.) reached base on a fielding error later in the inning that led to a DWU score, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Morningside collected its' lone run of the game in the fifth frame following an RBI single to left field. Hanisch gave the Tigers an insurance run in the sixth inning with an RBI single to right field for the second time of the game. DeMers and Bailey tallied an RBI each as the Tigers went on to win the second game, 6-1.
Hanisch finished the game going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in. DeMers, Bailey and Miller each went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Gavin Reichmuth (Chandler, Ariz.) picked up the win on the mound as he pitched eight innings and struck out three batters.
The victory gave head baseball coach John Greicar his 100th career win as the head coach of the DWU baseball squad.
The Tigers play fifth seeded Mount Marty College at 3 p.m. Thursday in Seward, Neb., in the opening round of the GPAC Tournament.
