Index of Sports Press Releases

April 15, 2008

Tiger baseball team settles for split at Hastings College
The Daily Republic

HASTINGS, Neb. — The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team’s doubleheader Monday at Hastings College played out similar to the team’s twin bill with Northwestern a week ago. The Tigers received a pair of strong pitching performances, but struggled to score in the first game and settled for a split.

The Broncos (13-26, 6-10 GPAC) scored in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie and held on for a 2-1 win in the first game, but DWU (16-14, 8-8 GPAC) bounced back with a big first inning and cruised to a 6-1 win in game two.

“We just scored more runs in the second one,” said Tigers’ head coach Adam Neisius. “We had chances in the first one, we just didn’t have anyone step up and get the big hit.”

Both teams managed to scratch a run in the second inning, and the game stayed tied at 1-1 until the top of the fifth. Wesleyan starter Freddy Janssen walked Hastings’ No. 9 hitter. A double followed, and the winning run came in on a Tigers’ error. The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the sixth, but a 1-6-3 double play squashed DWU’s attempt to tie the game.

“Some guys have got to want to be at the plate with the game on the line,” Neisius said. “We thought our hitters would be productive. Offensively, you have to come up with timely hits and we didn’t get them.”

Tigers’ leftfielder Ryan Santiago led the offense with a 2-for-3 performance in game one. He also scored the team’s lone run.

Janssen pitched well, but was plagued a little by control problems. He threw six innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits, but Hastings also had four walks. Thomas Pickett worked a perfect seventh.

“I thought Freddy pitched well but he walked a couple hitters,” Neisius said. “He threw OK.”

DWU’s offense tried to make up for its unproductive performance in game one with a big first inning. The Tigers scored five runs in the first frame to take a comfortable early lead. Kyle Isaacson, Sean Worley, Santiago, Mark Wood and Terry Lundeen all delivered RBI singles in the inning.

“We got some guys on base early and made some nice bunts and knocked it around a little,” Neisius said. “It was a tough day to score runs. The wind was blowing in, and that park is already big as it is. We played small ball, and the guys did a good job.”

The cushion was more than enough for Tigers’ ace Chris Baker. He threw all seven innings, allowing a single run on three hits and four walks while striking out nine. Monday’s performance was the just the latest gem for Baker, who has been tough to beat in recent weeks.

“I think you get Chris Baker five runs and you have a good chance to win,” Neisius said. “He threw well, although he had a couple walks.

“He’s by far our number one guy, and if you ask me, he might be the best pitcher in the GPAC right now. He’s just lights-out.”

DWU had far more balance in its lineup in the second game. Six different players scored and five different players drove in runs. Josh Pritt, Worley and Lundeen each had two hits for the Tigers.

The weather forced another scheduling change for DWU, so instead of traveling to Brookings, the Tigers will host South Dakota State University at Cadwell Park with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. DWU is excited to have the opportunity to upset the Jacks for some in-state bragging rights.

“The nice part about this game is we have nothing to lose,” Neisius said. “We have to go out and see what we can do. … I’m glad they’re coming into the stadium. It’s going to be great. We haven’t beat them since ’05. I’d love to beat them. We normally play pretty well at home. It should be fun.”