Kansas City, Mo. – Dakota Wesleyan finished up their Kansas City trip with another split. The Tigers fell in extra innings against Waldorf in game one but rebounded in game two to win the 2-1 nail bitter over Valley City State. DWU finished the trip 2-2. Dexter Payne picked up his first win of the season in game two with his six inning one run quality start. Payne recorded five punchouts in the six innings. Brady Christoffels earned his first save of the season with his gutsy relief performance retiring three straight batters with runners on second and third and nobody out.
In game one Drew Kitchens led the way offensively and got the Tigers on the board first with his RBI single in the first inning. Waldorf took a 3-2 lead in the third inning but didn't last long as Michael Zeman laced a RBI double to tie it up in the bottom half. Fast forward to the sixth and the Warriors recaptured the lead at 4-3. Again, that lead wouldn't last long when Caleb Meyers connected on his second home run of the season to knot it back up. Both teams stayed off the scoreboard in the seventh, forcing the game to extra innings. Waldorf plated three in the top half and kept DWU off the scoreboard in the bottom half resulting in the 7-4 loss for the Tigers. Dakota Wesleyan was slightly outhit by the Warriors 12-11.
In game two Payne got the nod and coasted through five innings of scoreless work. DWU got runners on but also was unable to plate anyone resulting in a 0-0 pitchers duel through the first five innings. In the sixth the Tigers got two runners on but stranded them there to keep it scoreless. The Vikings finally got to Payne who surrendered one run on two hits and a walk in the bottom half. Down to their last three outs the Tigers took advantage of a Viking error, two walks, and got a timely hit from Nathan Meyers to drive in two runners to give DWU the 2-1 lead. In the bottom half DWU faced a big jam with runners on second and third with nobody out. Enter Christoffels who got punchout, pop out, punchout to shut down the Valley City State comeback and record the clutch save to give DWU the 2-1 win.
Quick Stats Game 1:
Hitters-
- Drew Kitchens – 3 for 4, 2B, 2 RBI, Run
- Caleb Meyers – 2 for 4, HR
Pitchers-
- Seth Christiansen – 6.0 innings, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
- Caleb Meyers – 1.2 innings, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K- Loss
Quick Stats Game 2:
Hitters-
- Nathan Meyers – 1 for 3, 2 RBI, BB
- Lane Darrow – 1 for 3, Run, SB, BB
Pitchers-
- Dexter Payne – 6.0 innings, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K- Win (1-0)
- Brady Christoffels – 1.0 innings, 2 K- Save (1)
Up Next: The Dakota Wesleyan Baseball team is back action at the Tucson Invite March 3rd with a matchup against Waldorf.