Index of Sports Press Releases

May 5, 2008

Tigers fall just short of GPAC baseball tournament title
The Daily Republic

HASTINGS, Neb. — Three outs are all that separated the fifth-seeded Dakota Wesleyan baseball team from a surprising championship in the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament Saturday in Hastings, Neb.

But a three-run Morningside rally in the top of the seventh inning erased what had been a 4-3 DWU lead entering the final inning and sent second-seeded Morningside on its way to the GPAC championship with a 6-4 victory.

“Those kids gave every ounce they had,” DWU head coach Adam Neisius said of his team. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more of them, and I’m extremely proud of every one. There is absolutely nothing to hang our heads about. What they did was pretty courageous.”

The loss to Morningside actually came in the day’s second title game. After DWU opened the day with a 13-7 win over Briar Cliff to improve to 3-1 in the tournament, the Tigers advanced to play the unbeaten Mustangs for the championship. DWU actually beat Morningside7-2 with rallies in the sixth and seventh innings, but because of the double elimination nature of the tournament, DWU needed to beat Morningside twice in a row to emerge as the champion. The Tigers took the lead in the bottom of the fifth in the second Morningside game, but just didn’t have enough left in the tank to pull out a win.

“I told the kids, the toughest outs in baseball are the final six,” Neisius said. “You get to the final three and it’s even more difficult. We just couldn’t get that first one. The first out of an inning is so important.”

Clinging to a 4-3 lead entering the top of the seventh, Tigers’ reliever Chris Dennis, who had entered the game the previous inning after starting Friday’s game, surrendered a leadoff single. Chris Baker, who already had thrown a complete game earlier in the first game against Morningside as well as a complete game just two days earlier, was then summoned to the mound, but he hit the first batter he faced. After getting a strikeout for the first out of the inning, a Morningside triple plated two runs to give the Mustangs the lead. A sacrifice fly then plated Morningside’s sixth and final run.

“Baker is just such a warrior,” Neisius said. “He’s just that kind of player. He’s a kid you absolutely love to have on your team. He absolutely sold out to the team and said ‘don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

Sean Heary led off the bottom of the seventh with a single for DWU, but the Tigers’ next three hitters were retired in order.

After Morningside claimed a 3-0 in the top of the third, Wesleyan answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth when Heary scored on a wild pitch and Ryan Santiago drove in a run with a single.

The Tigers took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Jake Roy scored on an error and Sean Worley hit a sacrifice fly.

Baker picked up the loss for DWU, allowing two earned runs on one hit in the seventh inning. Eric Delich pitched 2.1 innings to get the win for Morningside.

Santiago led DWU offensively in the championship game with two hits and an RBI. Lin Esparza went 3-for-4 to lead Morningside.

In the 7-2 win over Morningside, the Tigers broke open a 2-2 tie with two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh. Roy was 3-for-5 with four RBI to lead the Tigers, and Jeff Bollard also had two hits. Baker went the distance on the mound, allowing two earned runs on six hits to pick up his second win of the tournament.

“Baker absolutely dominated,” Neisius said. “We didn’t really know what to expect. He’s never even thrown a bullpen on one day of rest. …. He probably threw close to 100 pitches on Thursday, and then threw 112 on Saturday. I still don’t know how he did it.”

It was the Tigers’ 13-7 win over Briar Cliff early Saturday morning that sent them to the title game. Kyle Isaacson led the way for DWU going 2-for-3 with four RBI. Worley was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Josh Pritt, Heary and Santiago all had two hits as well. Freddy Janssen got the win for the Tigers.