MARTINEZ AND GLOVICH DOMINATE ON THE MOUND TO SECURE FIRST TWO WINS IN FOUR GAME SERIES WITH BRONCOS
Mitchell,S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan baseball team picked up two wins in a four-game series with the Broncos thanks to some big performances from some key seniors. Senior Jereko Martinez dominated on the mound in game one going seven complete shutout innings while collecting eight punchouts and only one walk. Senior, Wyatt Hunt was the hero at the plate driving in both runs, in the 2-0 victory, with a hard hit double in the left center gap. In the 3-1 game two victory we saw another dominant performance on the mound this time from Jacob Glovich going eight strong innings surrendering only one run, that was unearned and getting five strikeouts. Senior Troy Wilhelm collected his first save of the season tossing a clean ninth. At the plate Landon Ruesink got the Tigers going with a solo-shot, his second of the season. Senior, Carter Gullickson turned in a strong effort going 2 for 4 with a run scored. The Tigers with the wins improved to 7-28 (4-18 GPAC) while the Broncos dropped to 12-28 (6-14 GPAC).
Quick Stats Game 1:
Hitters-
- Wyatt Hunt – 1 for 3, 2B, 2 RBI
- Drew Kitchens – 1 for 2, 2B, Run, BB
- Daulton Wilcoxen – 1 for 3, Run
Pitchers-
- Jereko Martinez – 7.0 innings, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, CG Shutout Win
Quick Stats Game 2:
Hitters-
- Landon Ruesink – 1 for 3, Solo HR
- Carter Gullickson – 2 for 4, Run
- Lane Darrow – 1 for 3, 2 RBI
Pitchers-
- Jacob Glovich – 8.0 innings, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, Win
- Troy Wilhelm – 1.0 inning, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, Save
Recap:
The Tigers grabbed the 2-0 shutout victory in game one on the back of Martinez who had his stuff going all day. Martinez was able to execute pitch after pitch and keep the Bronco hitters off balanced all day. At the plate, Wyatt Hunt provided the only spark in the game with his two-RBI double but was all the Tigers needed in the end to grab the victory. In that two-run fourth inning Wilcoxen got it started with a one-out base knock just past the diving HAS infielder. Kitchens followed with a walk, putting runners at first and second for Hunt. Kitchens scored all the way from first on Hunt's double deep in the left center gap.
Martinez ran into trouble in the first frame allowing a runner to reach third with one out on a wild pitch. Like all day though, Jereko made the pitches when he needed them and hit his spots to get out of the jam. Martinez cruised through the second, but faced serious trouble in the third with runners on the corners with nobody out. Digging deep and making big time pitches Martinez was able to escape with no damage thanks to an infield pop up, punchout and inning ending groundout to get the dugout fired up. Again, in the next half frame Martinez allowed runners in scoring position with one out. Like all day though Martinez really locked in and turned every pitch into a "stress" pitch, with runners on and held the Broncos off the scoreboard. Jereko really found his groove the last three innings, shutting down any kind of comeback chance and collecting four strikeouts in the process.
In game two, Jacob Glovich got the nod. Glovich struggled in his last start at home surrendering six runs on four home runs to Northwester. Jacob showed the leadership and grit he has all day flushing that and moving on to the next opponent by dominating the Bronco lineup all day. Glovich only allowed one run, that was unearned and only five Hasting batters to reach safely in his eight innings of work. Just like Martinez, Glovich escaped a couple jams and made the big time pitches when his team needed him.
Ruesink got the party started in the first inning, yanking a no-doubter out to left for his second home run of his freshman campaign. Darrow extended the Tigers lead to 3-0 in the following inning with a good piece of hitting going the other way with two strikes to score Gullickson and courtesy runner Mason Mehlhaff running for Hunt. Hastings make a quick pitching change following the Darrow base hit bringing in Alec Fichter who went on to throw the rest of the 6.2 innings. DWU had a hard time timing up Fichter only recording three hits and two walks over the 6.2 innings span.
With the offense cooling off that put added pressure on Glovich to execute every pitch with just a narrow three run lead. Only mistake Jacob made the entire day was fielding a swinging bunt and throwing the ball away that would go all the way to the deep right field corner allowing the runner to run all the way around the bases and score on the error, due to a miscommunication error and nobody covering home on the play with Hunt running down to back up first like he should on a groundball. Instead of letting the bad play get to the Tigers and implode in the one inning, like they have all season with letting one inning be the decider, Glovich and company buckled down and did damage control escaping the inning with just the one run.
Glovich faced runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth and picked up a huge punchout that drew a pumped-up reaction from Jacob and got the large Tiger crowd in attendance and home dugout going. Glovich went on to retire the next nine of the ten batters he faced with only a walk breaking up the streak to complete his eight-inning quality start. Troy Wilhelm took over duties in the ninth with a save opportunity on the line. Wilhelm sprinted through the three batters, while recording two of the outs himself on a ground ball and game ending pop up.
Up Next: The Dakota Wesleyan Baseball team returns to Drake Field to close out their home 2023 schedule and four-game series with the Broncos tomorrow, April 24th with first pitch set for 12:00 p.m.