Tigers stumble in double header versus Chargers
Sioux City, Iowa – Despite holding the lead in both games, the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team came away empty versus conference foe Briar Cliff University in Great Plains Athletic Conference play on Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa. DWU stumbled to a 5-3 defeat in the first game followed by a heart wrenching 4-3 loss in game two.
Sioux City, Iowa – Despite holding the lead in both games, the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team came away empty versus conference foe Briar Cliff University in Great Plains Athletic Conference play on Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa. DWU stumbled to a 5-3 defeat in the first game followed by a heart wrenching 4-3 loss in game two.
Cameron Quigley (Newcastle, Wyo.) opened the scoring for Dakota Wesleyan as he led off the game with a home run to left field and DWU held the 1-0 advantage. Briar Cliff evened the score at 1-1 in the bottom half of the frame with a pair of walks and a single. Seth Christiansen (Victor, Idaho) escaped the inning with multiple strikeouts and a groundout executed by Dalton Wilcoxen (Council Bluffs, Iowa.).
In the second frame, Dakota Wesleyan tallied a pair of hits as both Tyler Torres (Novato, Calif.) and Cole Hellie (Phoenix, Ariz.) singled. Though, the Tigers (5-9, 0-4 GPAC) came away empty and the Chargers (19-2, 4-0 GPAC) took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the second inning. BCU sent six hitters to the plate in the inning and scored three runs on three hits and controlled a 4-1 advantage.
Quigley led off the top of the third frame for the Tigers with a walk and advanced to second on a stolen base. Two batters later, Luke LeMay (St. Paul, Minn.) tallied a single to left field which narrowed the Charger lead to 4-2. The Blue and Gray added another run in the fourth inning as Drew DeMers (Winner, S.D) scored off an infield single by Quigley, who paced Dakota Wesleyan with a pair of hits and two RBIs.
Despite the DWU momentum, Briar Cliff added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead. A pair of Tiger batters reached in the top of the sixth frame, however, Dakota Wesleyan was unable to mount a comeback and the Chargers held on for the 5-3 victory. The Tigers finished with five hits and drew four walks as Quigley finished 2-of-3 from the plate.
The first inning of game two saw Dakota Wesleyan go right to work as Quigley and the Tigers clawed their way to a 1-0 lead. A single by Brad Dean (Rapid City, S.D.) drove in a run and DWU held the early lead. The Blue and Gray tacked on another run in the top of the second inning as Carter Gullickson (Dell Rapids, S.D.) scored off a double to center by Quigley, which extended the DWU lead to 2-0.
Held in check for the first two innings, Briar Cliff answered with a pair of runs on three hits in the third inning to tie the game at 2-2. Jared Jones (Edmond, Okla.), who finished with four strikeouts in six innings of work, haltered the Charger's momentum with a two-out strikeout to end the frame.
Briar Cliff took its first lead, 3-2, momentarily in the bottom of the fourth inning, though the Tigers knotted the score in the sixth frame. A double by DeMers, who went 1-of-4 from the plate, drove in Torres. The Dakota Wesleyan defense then responded in the bottom half of the inning with a 1-2-3 double play to keep the game tied at 3-3.
Neither team managed to push across any runs in the seventh and eighth frame and the score remained tied as the game entered the final inning. Gullickson led off the ninth inning with an infield single, however, Briar Cliff ended the game in the bottom half of the frame with a walk-off single and the Chargers secured the 4-3 win.
Dakota Wesleyan snagged eight hits as Gullickson and Quigley paved the way with two hits each. DWU also drew five walks while Kyler Halverson (Casper, Wyo.) tallied five strikeouts in two innings of relief versus 10 batters faced.
The Tigers return to action as they are scheduled to play Mayville State University at noon on Tuesday in Mitchell, S.D.