Tucson, Ariz. – Dakota Wesleyan dropped a pair of games against the Waldorf Warriors on day one of their Tucson, spring break trip. In game one Mitchell Sand got the nod and tossed another quality start for his team, going six innings of two run ball and collecting four punchouts. Both runs that came across to score against Sand were off of lead off walks which ended up being the biggest issue on the day for the Tigers pitching staff. DWU was down 2-1 in the sixth and had runners on first and second with two outs. Drew Kitchens delivered for his squad with a two-strike RBI single to tie the game at two. The Tigers went to the bullpen in the top of the seventh and called upon Sophomore Dexter Payne. Like Sand, Payne walked the leadoff batter who two batters later in the inning would come across to score. The Warriors tacked on one more run in the top half and kept the Tigers scoreless in the bottom half for a 4-2 final.
In game two the Tigers struck first, plating one run in the first thanks to a two-out triple from Seth Christiansen followed by Oscar Pravecek RBI single to bring him in. Alexander Mizsak was your starter in game two and ran into command issues right away. Mizsak walked the first two batters with the leadoff coming in to score on a single, but the scoring stopped there as Mizsak retired the next three batters to keep it tied 1-1. The Tiger offense was quiet in the next three innings, failing to record a hit and getting just two runners on due to back-to-back hit by pitches. The Warriors took the lead in the third when they plated three runs on three hits, one walk, and one wild pitch with a runner on third. DWU in the fifth had bases loaded with one out and got a break when the Waldorf shortstop misplayed a ground ball and allowed a run to score, and everyone advanced safely. Trailing 4-2 and still having the bases load with just one out, the Tigers were looking to do some damage but would strand them there with the next two batters being retired and failing to bring anyone across the plate in the process. Waldorf increased their lead in the bottom half with four runs and two in the sixth while the DWU offense remained scoreless in the final two frames for a 10-2 final.
Quick Stats Game 1:
Hitters-
- Caleb Meyers – 2 for 3, Run, SB
- Drew Kitchens – 2 for 3, RBI, SB
Pitchers-
- Mitchell Sand – 6.0 innings, 8 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
- Dexter Payne – 0.1 innings, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB- Loss (1-1)
Quick Stats Game 2:
Hitters-
- Seth Christiansen – 2 for 3, 3B, Run
- Oscar Pravecek – 1 for 3, 2 RBI
Pitchers-
- Alexander Mizsak – 4.1 innings, 7 H, 7 ER, 6 BB, 5 K- Loss (0-2)
Up Next: The Dakota Wesleyan Baseball team is back on the diamond tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. with a matchup against D2 opponent Southwest Minnesota State University.