BASEBALL CLINCHES DOUBLEHEADER SPLIT AGAINST BRIAR CLIFF, 11-10 VICTORY IN OPENER

MITCHELL, S.D. – For the second-consecutive day, the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball program took to the diamond in the midst of windy conditions for an afternoon doubleheader versus conference foe Briar Cliff University on Sunday at Cadwell Park in Mitchell, S.D. Dakota Wesleyan clinched the back-and-forth opener, 11-10, while Briar Cliff managed the rubber match victory, 14-5, to even the series.  

 HOW IT HAPPENED

 The visitors from Sioux City engineered the initial runs of the outing in the first frame thanks to five runs on a pair of hits. BCU infielder Quentin Evers concluded the inning with a 3-run homerun as the third baseman registered two hits and four RBIs in game one, and the Chargers (19-10, 8-4 GPAC) controlled a 6-0 early benefit. 

 Not to be outdone, the Dakota Wesleyan offense erupted for four runs of its own in the second inning beginning with a walk by Bradley Skorczewski and an extra-base knock by Seth Christiansen. At the plate, DWU raked in seven extra-base hits in game one including a pair of doubles from Christiansen as the Tigers (8-17, 2-10 GPAC) trimmed the lead to 6-2. Trayven Boellstorff walked with two outs in stanza, and Cameron Quigley capitalized with a 2-run homerun to pull the Blue and Gray to within two runs, 6-4, through two innings played.

 Briar Cliff tacked on a trio of runs in the top of the third frame, however; Quigley and the Dakota Wesleyan offense responded in the bottom half of the stanza with five runs to even the score at 9-9. Wyatt Hunt, who dialed three hits, commenced the action with a triple while Christiansen ensued with a double to center field. Carter Gullickson and Matt Bezdicek meanwhile rounded out the inning with RBI singles as four DWU batters ended the opener with 2-or-more hits.

 Dakota Wesleyan added a run in the fifth stanza to take its first lead of the afternoon, 10-9, and followed suit with an insurance run in its final at-bat. Quigley sent a ball over the fence in the fifth inning, and the Tiger outfielder paced DWU with four RBIs while Hunt plated Braxton Wilhelm in the sixth frame. On the mound, Bezdicek struck out the Chargers in order to conclude the seventh inning, and DWU claimed game one, 11-10.

 Kyler Halverson snagged the win with three scoreless innings on the bump while Bezdicek and Jereko Martinez fanned a combined six BCU batters.

The Tiger offense held the momentum early in game two with a run plated in the first inning while Jacob Glovich surrendered just one hit through the first two frames. Bezdicek scorched a double to left field which brought home Gullickson and granted Dakota Wesleyan a 1-0 advantage. Glovich, who struck out four Briar Cliff hitters in the start, retired the Chargers in back-to-back fashion to end the second inning.

 Offensively, Dakota Wesleyan added a run in the third frame, though not before the Briar Cliff offense tallied a pair of runs in the top half of the stanza, and the Chargers bounced back with five more runs plated in the fourth inning. A grand slam by BCU catcher Jake Allen pushed Briar Cliff out to the 7-2 lead as Allen notched five RBIs on three hits in the rubber match.

 DWU made things interesting in the sixth and seventh inning starting with an infield single off the bat of Drew Kitchens. Gullickson eventually placed a 2-out double to center field to score both Kitchens and Michael Zeman, and Dakota Wesleyan cut the lead to 7-5 through seven complete stanzas. Yet, Briar Cliff plated a game-high seven runs in its final trip to the plate in the ninth frame and secured the 14-5 victory.

 Bezdicek led the Tigers with three hits in game two including multiple doubles while Hunt and Zeman snagged multiple hits as well. Troy Wilhelm chipped in three strikeouts in late relief while Bradley Dean relinquished zero runs and no hits in 2.1 innings of work.  

UP NEXT

Head coach Charlie Dubanoski and the Blue and Gray kickstart a string of road matchups beginning with a date versus in-state, NCAA Division I foe South Dakota State University in a single-game outing set for 3 p.m. on Tuesday from Erv Huether Field in Brookings, S.D.