DWU baseball comes up short on Kansas road trip
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team put together five solid games, but came up just short in each one over the weekend. The Tigers played three games against Sterling College in Sterling, Kan., before playing a doubleheader against Bethany College to end the weekend Sunday in Lindsborg, Kan.
Game 1
Game 1
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dakota Wesleyan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
Sterling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dakota Wesleyan | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 2 |
Sterling | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | X | 18 | 8 | 2 |
Game 2
Game 2
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dakota Wesleyan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
Bethany (Kan.) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 9 | 2 |
Game 2
Game 2
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dakota Wesleyan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Sterling | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 3 | 6 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dakota Wesleyan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 2 |
Bethany (Kan.) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 1 |
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team put together five solid games, but came up just short in each one over the weekend. The Tigers played three games against Sterling College in Sterling, Kan., before playing a doubleheader against Bethany College to end the weekend Sunday in Lindsborg, Kan.
Sterling swept the Tigers 3-1, 3-0 in a doubleheader Friday, and completed the three-game series with an 18-15 win Saturday afternoon. The two teams started a fourth game Saturday, but it was called off due to dark and does not count as a complete game due to NAIA rules. Sunday, the Tigers lost 15-11 on a walk-off grand slam and 6-5 to Bethany.
Friday afternoon, Sterling scored three runs in the first inning of the first game, and the Tigers were held scoreless until the top of the seventh. Michael Lukkason scored on a hit by Chris Ciatti in the seventh, but that was DWU's only run. Lukkason and Erik Nockleby each had two hits and Nick Tadlock doubled. DWU had five total hits. Ethan Opsahl threw a complete game for DWU. He gave up three runs – two earned – on seven hits and struck out six batters.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Sterling scored twice in the third inning and once in the fifth in its shutout of the Tigers. Lukkason and Tadlock had DWU's only hits. Joey Fitzgerald threw all six innings and gave up three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts.
Saturday morning, the Tigers were down 7-1 after the first inning, but scored five runs in the second and four more in the third to go up 10-7. Sterling went up one, 11-10, after a four-run fourth inning, and took the lead for good with seven more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dakota Wesleyan scored five runs in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers lost 18-15. The Tigers had 13 hits, led by two each from Nockleby and Lukkason. Ciatti and Tadlock both homered, Lukkason and Maximum Shower each had a triple and Stephen Gunnel, Knight Johnson and Toby Kaplan all doubled for DWU.
Five players combined to throw six innings for the Tigers. Nick Pecha started the first inning, Schyler Bryan threw three complete innings. Josh Wagner threw 2.1 innings and gave up four runs on one hit to take the loss. Brock Sieve and Nick Anglin also saw time on the mound.
Sunday afternoon, DWU was up 11-9 heading into the bottom of the final inning, but Jose Rodriguez hit a walk-off grand slam to give Bethany a 15-11 win. Bethany led 7-1 after four innings, and 9-3 after five, but the Tigers scored two in the sixth and sixth in the seventh to pull ahead. Ciatti and Jon Holsworth each had two hits for the Tigers. Those two, along with Kaplan, doubled. The Tigers had seven total hits. Tyler Johnson, Chris Housley and Zac Custer split time on the mound, and Custer took the loss after giving up six runs on four hits in the final inning.
In the final game of the weekend, Bethany led 6-2 after three thanks to three-run first and third innings, but DWU scored one in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to get within one, but couldn't close the gap completely. DWU had eight hits to Bethany's 14. Kaplan and Kirk McBreen each had two hits and Lukkason tripled for the Tigers (3-6). Mickey Grant threw the first five innings and took the loss and Pecha threw the final inning. Grant gave up six runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts.
The Tigers are back on the road this weekend when they travel to Marshall, Mo., for a pair of doubleheaders against Missouri Valley College. DWU plays at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.