FREMONT, Neb. – The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team stumbled against conference challenger Midland University on Friday afternoon from Moller Field in Fremont, Neb. Midland hung on to the opener, 3-2, despite a strong performance on the mound by Matt Bezdicek, and tallied the series win with the 8-5 win in game two.
HOW IT HAPPENED
With his 36th hit of the season, Cameron Quigley commenced the opener with a single back up the middle while Bezdicek ensued with the 1-out walk. The Dakota Wesleyan offense doubled up Midland in hits, 8-4, including a Wyatt Hunt knock to right field to load the bases in the first inning. However, MID escaped the early jam with a 4-6-3 double play, and the score remained unbothered.
The Warriors (24-15, 11-11 GPAC) road the defensive momentum with a trio of runs in the bottom of the first stanza thanks to multiple RBI doubles in the frame. Midland infielder Connor Petersen, just 1-of-3 MID batters to register a hit in game one, scorched an extra-base knock down the left field line. Designated hitter Kyle Weber followed suit with a hit down the first base line to conclude the 3-0 start.
Defensively, Bezdicek, who clocked four strikeouts and surrendered just two earned runs in his eighth start of the year, and the Tigers (13-24, 7-15 GPAC) settled in the rest of the way relinquishing one hit through the final five stanzas. At the plate meanwhile, Carter Gullickson notched a 2-out double in the third inning while Luke LeMay plated the first DWU run with a hit to center field to trim the Warriors' benefit to 3-1. Quigley tacked on an RBI single in the fourth frame as Jacob Hammons scored, yet Midland stole game one with the 3-2 win.
Midland worked another strong start in the finale engineering a run in the bottom of the first inning and an additional pair of runs plated in the second frame. Bradley Dean reached successfully to lead off the third stanza while DWU sophomore infielder Drew Kitchens guided a hit through the left side. Though, the Warriors who raked in 14 hits in game two, held the 3-0 lead through three complete frames.
Dakota Wesleyan broke up the shutout in the top half of the fifth inning as Dean and Kitchens led off with back-to-back pokes. Gullickson tallied a single, 1-of-11 hits for DWU and his team-leading 50th knock of the 2022 campaign, to juice the bases while Bezdicek concluded the stanza with the RBI groundout to trim the margin to 4-3.
In spite of the Tiger's jolt of energy on the base pads, MID looked to close out the doubleheader with a combined four runs plated in the sixth and seven inning for the 5-run aid. Gullickson, who paced the Blue and Gray with three hits and two runs batted-in, scorched a double to the outfield wall in Dakota Wesleyan's final at-bat which scored both Quigley and Michael Zeman. However, the DWU comeback was short-lived as the Warriors clinched the 8-5 home victory.
UP NEXT
Dakota Wesleyan returns home for its season debut on Drake Field as the Tigers host league opponent Morningside University in a crucial doubleheader slated for 2 p.m. on Sunday in Mitchell, S.D.