Tigers split GPAC opener with Bulldogs

SEWARD, Neb. – Dakota Wesleyan University baseball opened the Great Plains Athletic Conference season with a doubleheader against Concordia University Saturday in Seward, Neb.

The Tigers got a strong start from senior pitcher Dustin Steckler (Garretson, S.D.) in a 3-0 win in game one. DWU could not hold an 8-2 lead in the finale, dropping the second game 11-10. The split moves DWU to 14-11 overall and 1-1 in the GPAC.

Steckler (2-2) held the Bulldogs to just three hits, pitching all seven innings in game one, while striking out three. Senior Nolan Luhmann (Jackson, Minn.) got DWU on the board in the second with an RBI walk, while junior Jonah Johnson (Kerkhoven, Minn.) knocked home a pair of insurance runs in the seventh with a single.

Luhmann was the lone Tiger with multiple hits in game one, going 2-for-2, as DWU finished with three runs on five hits and three errors in the opener.

The Tigers looked poised to get the sweep, leading by six in the eighth. Concordia scored eight in the eighth and after DWU rallied to tie the score in the top of the ninth, the Bulldogs came away with the walk-off win.

Senior Neil Nagle provided the big blast for DWU in the loss, hitting a three-run home run, as the first baseman finished with five RBIs. Austin Calhoon (Winner, S.D.) went 3-for-4 with an RBI. DWU had 10 runs on eight hits with no errors in the loss.

The Tigers continue GPAC play against Nebraska Wesleyan University at 1 p.m. Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.