CHRISTIANSEN AND WILCOXEN SHINE IN GAME ONE TO EARN SPLIT WITH RED RAIDERS
Mitchell,S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan Tiger baseball team earned the split against the Northwestern Raiders, winning game one by a score of 7-3 but then dropping game two, 7-1. Seth Christiansen picked up the complete game win for the Tigers in game one. Christiansen went seven giving up five hits, two earned and two punchouts. Daulton Wilcoxen was the big bat that came up clutch when his team needed him, smashing a two-run pinch hit homerun to tie things up in the fifth and ignite a, to that point quiet DWU offense, that went for all seven runs in the inning. Landon Ruesink and Drew Kitchens both collected RBI in the game as well. Kitchens was flashing the leather all day at second base, making play after play and showing off his range. In game two Jacob Glovich got the start and struggled to keep the Raider offense in the yard surrendering six runs which all came off four home runs. The Tigers with the split moved to 5-27 (2-18 GPAC) while the Red Raiders went to 18-21 (11-9 GPAC).
Quick Stats Game 1:
Hitters-
- Daulton Wilcoxen – 1 for 2, PH 2-Run HR
- Drew Kitchens – 1 for 3, RBI, Run
- Landon Ruesink – 1 for 4, RBI, Run
Pitchers-
- Seth Christiansen – 7.0 innings, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, CG Win
Quick Stats Game 2:
Hitters-
- Landon Ruesink – 2 for 2, 2 2B, Run, BB, SB
- Wyatt Hunt – 1 for 3
Pitchers-
- Troy Wilhelm – 3.2 innings, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Recap:
The Tigers got a much-needed spark in game one from Wilcoxen off the bench who stepped to the plate facing a 2-0 deficit with a runner on base. Wilcoxen smashed a no doubter homerun that got the faithful Tiger crowd and DWU dugout going. The spark would ignite a seven-run inning that was the only runs scored in the game. DWU all season has been haunted by a single bad inning on defense and finally turned the tables on their opponent with one of their own. Christiansen was dominant from start to finish and really only made the one mistake on the long ball. Christiansen who usually racks up and leans on the punchout, instead focused on control and mixing speeds keeping the Raider hitters off balanced all day and never finding their rhythm with the hard throwing righty. DWU outhit the NWC by a slim 6-5 margin in game one with five of the six hits coming in that big fifth inning.
Dakota Wesleyan bats all season has been looking and needing an inning like this where we stay within ourselves and pass the torch to the next batter. The Tigers did it against a big time arm in Northwestern's starter, Dylan Kirkeby who entered the matchup with a 4-1 record and sub two era. DWU showed like they have all season, that they can play with anyone as long as they limit the free passes and make the routine plays. The defense was very good behind Christiansen all evening, especially at second base where Kitchens was like a vacuum, sucking up everything hit in his general direction. What the box score doesn't show is that the Tiger offense was robbed not once but twice by the Northwestern left fielder in the game. DWU overcame the two big momemtum plays for NWC and bared down to pull out the win. The Tigers picked up the much-needed split with the Raiders in a season where conference wins have been hard to come by. DWU will wrap up their home schedule with a four game series against Hastings this weekend, with the Sunday DH being senior day at Drake Field.
Up Next: The Dakota Wesleyan Baseball team is back in action tomorrow for their third straight day of games with a single, nine inning game, against Dakota State with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m.
