OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team's run in the postseason ended with a loss to York College (Neb.) in an elimination game during the 2015 NAIA Opening Round Thursday at Jim Wade Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.
After enduring two rain delays that pushed the game from Wednesday morning to Noon on Thursday, the Tigers battled with the Panthers to keep their season alive. A late DWU rally fell short, as York held on for a 4-2 win. The loss ends the DWU season with a record of 24-26.
The Tigers were held off the board until the eighth inning as York built a 4-0 lead. The Panthers broke the ice in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Sean Goodall and scored two more in the seventh aided by a DWU error. Anthony Enriquez singled home the fourth run for the Panthers in the eighth.
With their season on the line, the Tigers rallied in the eighth. After sophomore Chris Combs (Corvallis, Mont.) reached on a walk to start the inning, senior Ben Ladner (Delray Beach, Fla.) doubled to bring home a run. With runners on the corners later in the inning, sophomore Tyler Waddle (Huron, S.D.) singled to cut the York lead to a pair.
With the bases loaded for the Tigers, junior Dominic Sebastiani (San Francisco, Calif.) hit a ball up the middle for DWU and looked to have a base hit. Enrquez made a diving play and flipped to second base for the force to potentially cut down two Tiger runs.
P.J. Matha got the final five outs of the game for York, including striking out the side in the ninth. DWU finished with seven hits and two errors compared to 11 hits and no errors from the Panthers.
Sophomore Patrick Whetham (Garretson, S.D.) took the loss for DWU allowing three runs, one earned, on nine hits and struck out two. Junior Neil Nagle (Oslo, Minn.) and Ladner each finished with two hits for DWU.
The Panthers move on to play No. 1 seed Oklahoma City University in an elimination game Thursday night.