Game 2
Graceland University
Game 1
Graceland University
LAMONI, Iowa – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team picked up its first two wins of the season, sweeping a doubleheader on the road against Graceland University Saturday in Lamoni, Iowa.
The Tigers held on for a 6-5 win in game one behind the arm of senior starting pitcher Dustin Steckler (Garretson, S.D.). DWU took advantage of six Yellowjacket errors to jump out to an early lead in a 10-2 win in game two. The wins move DWU to 2-7 on the season.
The Tigers scored four in the fourth to break a scoreless tie in the opening game. Graceland came back to tie the game with two in each the fourth and fifth. Senior shortstop Dominic Sebastiani (San Francisco, Calif.) tripled to bring home a run and later scored to give DWU a 6-4 lead in the sixth.
Steckler (1-2) went five innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, while walking two and striking out four. Closer Will Lutjen (Miller Place, N.Y.) picked up his first save of the season with a scoreless seventh inning. Junior Jared Neilan (Pierre, S.D.) and senior Cole Wenande (Alexandria, S.D.) each finished with two RBIs on two hits, while Sebastiani also added two RBIs.
Game two saw the Tigers jump out to a 6-1 lead after three innings, while freshman starting pitcher Jace Saxon (Harrisburg, S.D.) earned his first career win in his debut with five strong innings. Saxon allow two runs on five hits and struck out three.
Junior outfielder Jonah Johnson (Kerkhoven, Minn.) led the Tiger offense with three hits and an RBI. Junior catcher Sean Riley (Driggs, Idaho) added a run scored, with a hit and two RBIs, while senior Neil Nagle (Oslo, Minn.) had two hits and two runs scored.
The Tigers had nine hits and one error in the first game, while adding 10 hits and two errors in the second game.