Game 2
Midland University
Game 1
Midland University
FREMONT, Neb. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team split a Great Plains Athletic Conference doubleheader against Midland University Sunday in Fremont, Neb., with both team securing come-from-behind wins.
The Tigers (9-11, 1-3 GPAC) allowed an 8-1 lead slip away in the first game, falling 9-8. DWU fell behind by as many as five runs in the second game, before rallying on severl occasions to secure a 13-12 win.
In game one, the Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead when junior Neil Nagle (Oslo, Minn.) doubled home three runs in the first inning. Senior catcher Ben Ladner (Delray Beach, Fla.) doubled home two more for the Tigers in the fourth to put DWU up 5-1. DWU added three more in the fifth including a pair of runs on a Jared Neilan (Pierre, S.D.) single.
Midland began to chip away with one in the fifth and three runs in the sixth. The Warriors came to bat in the seventh inning down 8-5. After a quick strike out by relief pitcher Steven Sommerville (Ajax, Ont., Canada), Midland got back-to-back-to-back doubles to cut the DWU led to one run. After a line out and a single to put runners on the corners with two outs, Zach Kinsella doubled to drive in two runs to secure the walk-off win for the home team.
Sommerville was charged with the loss, pitching 2/3 of an inning and allowing four earned runs on five hits.
The second game started as mirror opposite to the first, with Midland jumping out early. The Warriors scored two in the second and four in the third to lead 6-1. DWU responded with three runs in the fourth inning, including two on a double from junior Austin Calhoon (Winner, S.D.).
The Warriors rebuilt its five-run lead with three in the bottom of the fourth, but the Tigers did not go away, plating three of their own in the top of the fifth. Nagle drove in a run with a single in the fifth, while Neilan added an RBI on a fielder's choice.
Once again Midland had the answer in the bottom of the fifth and led 12-7 heading into the top of the seventh inning, where DWU finally caught up. The Tigers scored five times on five hits to even the score at 12. The tying runs crossed the plate on a two-run double from junior Cole Wenande (Alexandria, S.D.).
The score remained tied until the ninth, when Wenande came through again with an RBI single. Will Lutjen closed down a Midland rally in the Warriors' final at bat to give DWU its first GPAC win of the season. Lutjen got the win and is 1-1 on the season.
The Tigers will look to build on the win in a doubleheader against South Dakota State University at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Brookings, S.D.