(RV) DOANE SWINGS PAST DAKOTA WESLEYAN IN SERIES FINALE
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball program challenged conference opponent (RV) Doane University in the series finale with a doubleheader matchup on Monday afternoon from Cadwell Park in Mitchell, S.D. Doane managed to keep its undefeated conference record alive with a 10-0 win in the opener followed by an 8-6 victory in game two.
MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball program challenged conference opponent (RV) Doane University in the series finale with a doubleheader matchup on Monday afternoon from Cadwell Park in Mitchell, S.D. Doane managed to keep its undefeated conference record alive with a 10-0 win in the opener followed by an 8-6 victory in game two.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Doane, who currently sits atop the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) standings, worked the early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Jereko Martinez though avoided any further damage with three strikeouts while Drew Kitchens looked to spark the Dakota Wesleyan offense with an infield single in the bottom half of the second frame. Martinez fanned four DOA batters through three innings of action while the DWU hitters recorded five base-on balls.
The Tigers (19-5, 8-0 GPAC) of Doane blew the game wide open with a trio of runs in the second and third frames and managed a 7-0 benefit through three complete innings. A double off the bat of DOA second baseman Luke LaChance in the third inning plated multiple runs as the infielder registered two hits and a pair of RBIs.
Seth Christiansen drove a knock to center field for the Tigers (7-13, 1-7 GPAC) late in the first outing, yet Doane added a run in three of the final four stanzas and clinched the double-digit victory. Carter Gullickson chipped in a hit for the Blue and Gray while Cameron Quigley continued his efficient approach at the plate with two walks drawn. Bradley Dean clocked a pair of strikeouts meanwhile in relief.
The doubleheader finale commenced with the visiting Tigers working a 2-0 edge through the first inning, though the Dakota Wesleyan bats erupted in the bottom half of the stanza. Matt Bezdicek, with his fifth homerun on the season, sent a shot over the left field fence to match the score at 2-2. Wyatt Hunt ensued just two Tiger batters later with another hit over the wall, and DWU garnered the 4-2 lead.
Doane answered back with six-straight runs from the third to fifth inning and reclaimed the advantage, 8-4, as the game reached the middle of the fifth frame. Justin Nevells cleared the bases with one swing of the bat in the top of the fifth inning, and the DOA infielder notched a game-high four RBIs.
Gullickson and the Tigers responded with a pair of runs plated in the bottom of the fifth inning beginning with a Kitchen's walk. Gullickson, the senior from Dell Rapids, S.D., clinched an infield hit while Bezdicek worked the final run of the frame with a poke down the third base line. Dakota Wesleyan dialed five RBIs in the second game and pulled within two runs, 8-6, with just two innings left to play.
Christiansen and Troy Wilhelm held DOA scoreless in both the sixth and seventh innings which granted the DWU offense a chance at a comeback late. A Bezdicek single in the final trip through the Tiger lineup placed the tying run at the plate, though Doane held on for the 8-6 win.
Jacob Glovich clocked four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of action while Hunt threw out a pair of Doane baserunners at the catcher position. Daulton Wilcoxen added a base-on balls as Bezdicek and Gullickson dialed multiple hits each.
UP NEXT
Gullickson and the Tigers face a familiar foe in Dakota State University next in a non-conference tilt at 5 p.m. tomorrow from Flynn Field in Madison, S.D.