Tigers hit 6 HRs in sweep of Lancers

YANKTON, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University softball team used the long ball to take two games from Great Plains Athletic Conference rival Mount Marty College Wednesday in Yankton, S.D.

The Tigers sent three balls over the fence in the first inning and five in total en route to a 9-2 win in game one. Freshman standout Savannah Ahumada (Turlock, Calif.) hit a historic blast in game two to help DWU take the finale 6-0.

The sweep moves the Tigers to 27-17 overall and 10-6 in the GPAC, as DWU continues the most successful season in program history.

DWU's all-time home runs leader, senior Hailey Unger (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) hit her first of the season to lead off game one. Ahumada made it back-to-back with her seventh of the season to make it 2-0. Ahumada hit two home runs in the doubleheader and set a new DWU record for runs scored in a season with 37, while tying the program mark with eight home runs in 2016.

DWU continued to jog around the bases with freshman Karly Severance (Las Vegas, Nev.) hitting a two-run shot, her third home run of the season. Unger extended the Tiger lead to 5-0 in the second with her second home run of the game, while senior Vanessa Mendez (Monterey Park, Calif.) got in on the fun with a two-run home run in the third, her third of the year. 

Unger finished 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs, while Severance, Mendez, Kinley and junior Elise Sutherland (Stansbury, Utah) each added two hits. Unger is now three hits shy of the DWU record for hits in a career with 163.

Freshman pitcher Sierra Haage (Sioux Falls, S.D.) got her 11^th win of the season, tossing three innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out two. Junior Lorissa Loeppky (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) finished the game with four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, while striking out four.

Freshman pitcher Hallie Misiaszek (Mitchell, S.D.) got the start in game two, keeping the Lancers off the board for her 10^th win of 2016. She tossed all seven innings, allowing seven hits, while striking out five.

Unger picked up her 99^th career RBI in the fourth to give DWU a 2-0 lead, while Ahumada's home run in the fifth doubled the Tiger advantage. Freshman Andriana Sprakel (Yankton, S.D.) returned to her hometown, driving in two in the fifth on an RBI single.

The Tigers continue GPAC play against Concordia University (RV) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Seward, Neb.