Index of Sports Press Releases

April 7, 2008

DWU softball team loses three but gets big win over Doane
The Daily Republic

The Dakota Wesleyan softball team traveled to Crete, Neb. on Saturday to take on Doane in a doubleheader against the Great Plains Athletic Conference frontrunner.

Doane certainly looked the part in an 11-2 game one win, but DWU shook off the first loss to win 9-7 in come from behind fashion in game two. The Tigers also played a double header Sunday against Midland Lutheran in Fremont, Neb, though the results weren’t as encouraging for DWU. Midland Lutheran swept the Tigers with 11-3 and 8-0 wins.

The Tigers trailed 6-2 after five innings in the second game against Doane, but exploded offensively for seven runs in the sixth. The big blow was a three-run homer for Valerie Spencer, which concluded the scoring in the frame for DWU, still before there was even anybody out in the inning.

DWU took advantage of four hits, two walks and an error in the inning. Lindsey Cooper got the scoring started with a bases-loaded RBI single, and with the bases still loaded, Amy Torgerson followed with a two-run single. Ekekela Watson’s RBI single tied the game at 6-6 and set the stage for Spencer’s blast.

“That was a good inning for us,” DWU head coach Marie McCarthy said. “We just started hitting the ball. …We just have to start hitting like that more consistently.”

The Tigers actually got on the board first in the second game with single runs in the first and third innings, before Doane answered with two in the third an four more in the fifth. The Tigers’ run in the first was unearned, and the run in the third came on a solo homer by Annie Martinez.

Watson finished the game 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Spencer was 1-for-3 with 3 RBI for the Tigers. Spencer also picked up the win on the mound, giving up seven runs on six hits in 6.2 innings. Torgerson recorded the final out to pick up the save.

“We were down by a lot, but we came back and we didn’t give up,” McCarthy said. “We need to set that tone from the very beginning. That was a positive the way we kept our heads up even though we were down.”

While the Tigers were able to rally from the big deficit in the second game, they weren’t so fortunate in the first. Doane took a 7-1 lead after two innings, and added four more runs in the fourth to win the game 11-2 after five innings. DWU’s only runs came on an RBI single from Makinna Meeks in the second inning and a Watson homer in the fifth.

Watson was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI to lead the Tigers’ offensively, and Dana Baxa was 2-for-2. Torgerson picked up the loss for DWU, allowing 11 runs — eight earned — in four innings.

In Sunday’s first game against Midland Lutheran, the Tigers equaled MLC with nine hits, but could only muster three runs in the 11-3 loss. Spencer had another big day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with an RBI. Sarah Wells also went 3-for-3 in the Tigers loss. Torgerson was the losing pitching for the Tigers, giving up nine earned runs in 5.1 innings.

In the second game, Midland Lutheran jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the first two innings and held on for an 8-0 win in five innings. Baxa had the Tigers’ lone hit in the loss, while Spencer took the loss on the mound, giving up seven runs, four of which were earned, in 1.2 innings.

“I don’t want to make excuses and say that’s the reason,” McCarthy said in regards to her team playing a doubleheader on three straight days, Friday through Sunday. “This entire year we haven’t been consistent. I don’t want to say that because we played six games back-to-back, that’s the reason. Pitching wise, it probably hurt us more than offense.”

DWU will return to action for a doubleheader Wednesday against Briar Cliff beginning at 3 p.m. in Sioux City, Iowa.