Dominant pitching and hot bats helps Dakota Wesleyan upend Hastings

MITCHELL, S.D. – Thanks to a pair of dominant pitching efforts, the Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team upended Hastings College on Saturday from Cadwell Park in Mitchell, S.D.

 Dakota Wesleyan knocked off Hastings 4-0 in the first game followed by an 8-3 victory over HC in the second game.

 Both pitchers settled in nicely in game one as neither team pushed across any hits or runs in the first inning of action. After a single by the Broncos (10-25, 8-14 GPAC) in the top half of the second frame, DWU registered a pair of runs on four hits in the bottom of the second inning. Jared Jones (Edmond, Okla.) and Cole Hellie (Phoenix, Ariz.) both doubled and the Tigers (13-20, 7-15 GPAC) held a 2-0 lead.

 The Blue and Gray continued the momentum in the next inning as Drew DeMers (Winner, S.D.) led off the frame with a single to left field. Daulton Wilcoxen (Council Bluffs, Iowa), who finished with two RBIs, followed with a double which scored DeMers and granted Dakota Wesleyan the 3-0 advantage at the end of the third frame.

 Administered with the 3-0 lead, starting pitcher Ethan Davis (Billings, Mont.) sealed the envelope for DWU as he surrendered just one hit over the final four innings. Davis, who now holds a 3-4 record on the season, secured three strikeouts and permitted just three hits versus 24 batters faced.

 DWU tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Cameron Quigley (Newcastle, Wyo.) scored on a sacrifice fly by Wilcoxen and Dakota Wesleyan now held a four-run lead. From there, Davis and the Tigers squandered any hopes for a comeback by Hastings and DWU earned the 4-0 victory.

 HC raced out to a 3-0 lead in the top half of the first inning in the second game of the doubleheader. However, DWU trimmed the lead to two runs in the bottom half of the frame as Luke LeMay (St. Paul, Minn.) drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

 Dakota Wesleyan continued its momentum in the third and fourth innings as the Tigers took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth frame. Wilcoxen drove a three-run homerun with two outs over the left-field fence and granted DWU a 5-3 lead. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Patrick Starr (Overland Park, Kan.) held the Broncos in check over the next three innings as he completed seven innings of work and fanned three batters.

 Quigley, who finished with three hits in the game, recorded back-to-back singles in the fifth and seventh frames and DWU held an 8-3 lead at the end of the seventh inning. A fielder's choice by Reed Harter (Colome, S.D.) also helped the Tigers extend their lead heading into the final two innings of action.

 Rick Strubel (Huron, S.D.) retired HC in the eighth inning as he struck out a batter followed by a 4-3 double play engineered by Harter. Once again in the ninth inning, the Broncos attempted a comeback, however, Kyler Halverson (Casper, Wyo.) induced a trio of ground balls to secure the 8-3 victory, including a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

 Dakota Wesleyan returns to action tomorrow versus Hastings College at noon from Cadwell Park in Mitchell, S.D.