History for DWU softball in sweep of Dordt
MITCHELL, S.D. – After a sweep of Dordt College in a Great Plains Athletic Conference doubleheader, the Dakota Wesleyan University softball team set a new record for wins in a season with 18 games left on the regular season schedule.
MITCHELL, S.D. – After a sweep of Dordt College in a Great Plains Athletic Conference doubleheader, the Dakota Wesleyan University softball team set a new record for wins in a season with 18 games left on the regular season schedule.
DWU topped the Defenders 6-1 in game one and 6-2 in the finale to move to 23-13 overall and 6-2 in the GPAC Tuesday at McWhirter Field in Mitchell, S.D. The Tigers also set new season marks as a team for hits and runs in a season.
In game one, freshman pitcher Sierra Haage (Sioux Falls, S.D.) reached 10 wins on the season, going all seven innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits, while striking out eight and walking one. She helped her cause with a 2-for-3 night at the plate, including a double and a run scored.
The Tigers got the scoring started early with senior Vanessa Mendez (Monterey Park, Calif.) and freshman Katelyne Dougherty (Maui, Hawaii) each knocking in a run with a single in the first inning. DWU built some separation when clean-up hitter Karly Severance (Las Vegas, Nev.) sent a shot over the centerfield fence for a two-run home run. Senior Hailey Unger (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) and Dougherty each added RBI singles in the fourth and fifth, respectively, to help put the game away.
Haage, Mendez, Dougherty, sophomore Paige Kinley (Worthington, Minn.) and senior Katy Lazenby (Mitchell, S.D.) each finished with two hits in the opener. The Tigers totaled six runs on 13 hits and one error in the win.
The Tigers did most of their damage in game two in the first inning, scoring five times, while sending 11 batters to the plate. The barrage started with freshman shortstop Savannah Ahumada (Turlock, Calif.) hitting her sixth home run of the season with a two-run blast. Kinley and Unger each added RBI singles as DWU led 5-0 after one.
The third run of the game, scored by junior Kelly Taylor (Dublin, Calif.) was the 187th of the season for DWU, breaking the previous team record. The Tigers snapped another team record two innings later, when senior Meghan Bovee (San Diego, Calif.) hit a lead-off double as a pinch hitter. The hit was number 324 for the Tigers in 2016, setting a new standard for the program.
The Defenders got to DWU starter Hallie Misiaszek (Mitchell, S.D.) for a pair of runs in the fifth, but left the bases loaded and the Tigers shut the door the rest of the way. Misiaszek went the distance to move to 8-3 this season, allowing two runs on eight hits, while walking four and striking out two.
Unger, Mendez, Bovee, Kinley and Lazenby each recorded two hits in the win, as DWU totaled six runs on 12 hits with no errors.
DWU gets set for a big GPAC doubleheader against No. 15 Morningside College at 4 p.m. Thursday at McWhirter Field in Mitchell, S.D.
