DWU baseball picks up two splits, Opsahl ties school record
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team picked up a pair of Great Plains Athletic Conference splits over the weekend thanks in part to pitcher Ethan Opsahl. He earned the save in a victory against Doane College Saturday afternoon then tied the school record for strikeouts in a game Sunday against Hastings.
Game 2
Game 2
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Doane | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
Dakota Wesleyan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Doane | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Dakota Wesleyan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hastings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Dakota Wesleyan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hastings | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
Dakota Wesleyan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team picked up a pair of Great Plains Athletic Conference splits over the weekend thanks in part to pitcher Ethan Opsahl. He earned the save in a victory against Doane College Saturday afternoon then tied the school record for strikeouts in a game Sunday against Hastings.
The Tigers beat league-leading Doane College 2-1 Saturday afternoon before dropping the second game 4-3. Sunday, DWU lost 3-1 to Hastings before picking up the 2-0 victory to end the weekend. Both games were at Cadwell Park.
Saturday afternoon, Doane got on the board first in the third inning on an RBI groundout. The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double by Maximum Shower, and scored the eventual game winner in the fourth on an RBI sac fly by Nick Tadlock. DWU stranded two runners in the sixth, but Opsahl came in and struck out two batters in the seventh and got the third to ground out to end the game.
Four players had a single hit for DWU. Mickey Grant threw the first three innings and gave up one run on five hits. Chris Housley didn't give up a single hit in three innings pitched and struck out two batters before Opsahl came in to finish the game.
The Doane Tigers (28-16, 12-3) started the second game with a run in the first on an RBI groundout, but DWU tied the game in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Erik Nockleby. Doane took a 4-1 lead in the fourth on a two-run single and an RBI single, and Dakota Wesleyan stranded three runners in the bottom of the inning. DWU made it a one-run game in the fifth on an RBI single by Chris Ciatti and an RBI walk by Michael Lukkason, but left three more runners stranded and failed to tie the game.
Dakota Wesleyan had runners in place to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh when Stephen Gunnell singled and advanced to third on a single by Ciatti and an error by the Doane center fielder. Anthony Pakutka, pinch running for Ciatti, advanced to second on a passed ball to put runners at second and third with one out, but Lukkason grounded out to first and Gunnell was thrown out at home to end the game.
Ciatti had two hits and an RBI to pace Dakota Wesleyan, which had six total hits. Nick Pecha threw the first five innings and gave up four runs on seven hits with one strikeout. Josh Wagner threw the final two innings and struck out one batter.
Sunday afternoon the Tigers played two more close games against the Broncos (12-31, 5-11). In the first game, Hastings scored two runs in the first on a pair of Tiger errors and two hits. Dakota Wesleyan got within one with a single run on an RBI double by Lukkason in the fourth, but couldn't get any closer. Hastings added an insurance run in the seventh when the Tigers hit a batter with the bases loaded, and DWU went down in order in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
DWU had just four hits in the first game, including doubles by Lukkason and Kirk McBreen. Joey Fitzgerald threw the first 6.1 innings and took the loss. He gave up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Chris Housley threw the final two-thirds of an inning and struck out one batter.
In the second game Sunday, Opsahl dominated for the Tigers. He didn't allow a base runner until the fifth inning, and had a no hitter going until Hastings singled in the fifth. For the game, he allowed just three base runners. Opsahl struck out at least one batter in every inning, and tied the school single-game record with 17 strikeouts. He is tied with Ben Jukich, the only Tiger baseball player to ever get drafted. Jukich set the record in 2006.
DWU scored the only runs of the game in the second when Shower sent in a run and reached on an error by the Broncos shortstop. Toby Kaplan scored the Tigers' second run when Shower was caught in a rundown trying to reach second. McBreen, Gunnell and Kaplan had the Tigers' only three hits of the game.
Dakota Wesleyan is now 19-29 overall and 8-8 in the GPAC. DWU is on the road Tuesday, April 24, when it takes on Concordia-Moorhead in a nonconference doubleheader. The Tigers are back at home one last time Thursday, April 26, when they host Dordt College at 4 p.m.