Hot hitting lifts Tigers past Warriors, DWU earns first conference sweep of the season

MITCHELL, S.D. –  In its first home series in roughly 700 days, the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team racked up 21 runs on 25 hits to race past conference foe Midland University in Great Plains Athletic Conference play. Dakota Wesleyan earned a 10-5 victory in the first game and completed the sweep with an 11-3 win in the second game on Sunday from Cadwell Park in Mitchell.

 After both teams failed to push across any runs in the first inning of game one, Midland struck first with three runs in the top half of the second frame. DWU answered with four runs, however, in the bottom half of the inning on three hits to take a 4-3 lead. Wyatt Hunt (Rapid City, S.D.) began the rally with a double to center field followed by a pair of singles off the bats of Drew DeMers (Winner, S.D.) and Cole Hellie (Phoenix, Ariz.).

 With the one-run lead at the end of the second frame, Dawson Penticoff (Rapid City, S.D.) settled in nicely on the mound as he surrendered just one hit and struck out a pair of Warrior (11-16, 1-7 GPAC) hitters over the next four innings. Meanwhile, the Dakota Wesleyan offense tacked on a trio of runs in both the third and fourth innings.

 Dalton Wilcoxen (Council Bluffs, Iowa), who finished with four RBIs in the game, hammered a two-run home run over the left-field fence in the bottom of the third frame and the Blue and Gray controlled a 6-3 lead. Just two batters later, Tyler Torres (Novato, Calif.) sent a Midland pitch over the fence in left field as well to extend the Tiger (8-10, 3-5 GPAC) advantage to four runs.

 In the bottom half of the fourth frame, Jacob Hammons (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) drove in Cameron Quigley (Newcastle, Wyo.) on a double to left field. Moments later, Wilcoxen doubled to left field as well and plated two more runs. After three runs on four hits in the frame, the Tigers held a 10-3 lead as the game approached the fifth frame.

 Midland added a pair of runs in its final trip to the plate in the seventh inning, however, Penticoff held on for the win with his third strikeout of the game. Dakota Wesleyan earned the 10-5 victory as Wilcoxen finished with two hits and a pair of runs scored on three plate appearances. Quigley chipped in a pair of RBIs on one hit and a walk.

 In the second game, Jared Jones (Edmond, Okla.) propelled Dakota Wesleyan to a quick start on the mound as he fanned three batters and allowed just one hit through the first three innings. The DWU offense also got off to a hot start and tacked on a run in both the first and third frames. Brad Dean (Pierre, S.D.) kicked off the bottom half of the third inning with an inside-the-park home run after a deep hit to center field and the Tigers held a 2-0 lead to start the fourth frame.

 Jones, who finished with nine strikeouts, retired the Warriors in order over the next two innings and Dakota Wesleyan stretched its lead to six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs in in the fifth frame, Hunt scored on a Torres single to left field and DWU possessed a 6-0 lead.

 Despite a run by Midland in the top of the sixth inning, the Tigers exploded for three more runs in the bottom of the seventh. LeMay tripled to center field while both Wilcoxen and Seth Christiansen (Victor, Idaho) singled as DWU sent seven batters to the plate and produced four hits in the inning. With just six outs left, Dakota Wesleyan held a 9-2 lead.

 DWU tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom half of the eighth frame and Kyler Halverson (Casper, Wyo.) entered the game in the final inning to preserve the 11-3 lead. Faced with just four batters, Halverson made quick work of the Warriors as Dakota Wesleyan solidified the convincing 11-3 lead to complete the sweep.

 Jones, who worked eight innings on the mound, relinquished just three runs on five hits. DeMers and Dean paced the Tigers with three and two RBI's respectively as DWU scored 11 runs on 15 hits.

 DWU kicks off a two-game homestand starting with in-state rival Dakota State University at 3 p.m. on Wednesday from Cadwell Park in Mitchell.