GPAC

[Baseball] Baseball Sets Home Run Record; Sweep Peru at Werner Park

Doane Baseball took on Peru State Tuesday afternoon in Papillion as the teams met at Werner Park, home of the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers. Doane put forth a strong day as they swept the Bobcats, winning 7-0 in game one and 6-5 in game two. The Tigers had four home runs on the day and set a new school record for home runs in a season. Game OneThe Tigers received a strong pitching performance out of Kellan Voggesser (FR/Fort Collins, Colo.) and used the offense provided by Andy Theiler (JR/Arlington, Neb.) to pick up the win in game one. Voggesser worked a fairly clean 1st inning, giving up a two-out single. In the bottom of the 1st, the Tigers needed to see only one pitch and they were in the lead. Theiler blasted the first pitch of the inning out to the right field berm to put the Tigers up 1-0. Doane opened the inning with four straight hits, scoring their second run on a Joe Osborn (FR/Hickman, Neb.) RBI-single. Luke LaChance (FR/Littleton, Colo.) capped the scoring with a two-out infield single to give Doane a 3-0 lead after one inning of play.In the 2nd inning, Peru State put the first two batters on base with a single and a walk. Voggesser was able to get a popout on the infield, however the ball fell to the ground. The batter was out on the infield fly but the Bobcats' runner at first base took off for second. Voggesser recovered the ball and threw to second base where LaChance tagged out the runner on second base who had left the bag as well and then threw to Lukas White (SO/Castaic, Calif.) who tagged out the runner returning to the base for a triple play. It was Doane's first triple play since 2004.The Tigers added to their lead in the 4th inning as Theiler hit his second home run of the game to put Doane up 5-0. The home run was the 46th of the season for Doane, tying the record set in 1993. LaChance had a two-run single in the 5th to go ahead, 7-0.Voggesser limited Peru State to three hits and four walks in the game, however, only three runners were stranded on base as Doane turned two double plays and one triple play on the defensive side. He struck out seven batters in the game.The offense for Doane posted 11 hits, three from Theiler and LaChance. Theiler was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three driven in while LaChance was 3-for-3 with three driven in. Tanner Black (FR/Elkhorn, Neb.) scored twice as the courtesy runner for the Tigers. Game TwoPeru State was the home team on the scoreboard in game two and jumped out to a 4-0 lead through two innings. Doane rallied with six runs late in the game to claim the win.In the 1st inning, the Bobcats plated one run with a bases loaded hit by pitch. Jackson Stensgard (SO/Maricopa, Ariz.) was able to work out of the inning by striking out the next two batters and Tucker Catlett (SR/Lincoln, Neb.) picked off a runner at third base to end the inning.In the 2nd inning, Doane committed two errors as the Bobcats scored three runs. The first run scored on a fielder's choice with a second run following on a throwing error. The third run of the inning scored on a double.Doane's first run of the game came in the 5th inning as Theiler hit his third home run of the day and broke the team single-season record for home runs. It was his 11th home run of the season, matching Talon Little (JR/Lincoln, Neb.) for the team and GPAC lead.In the 6th inning, Nate Mensik (FR/Pleasant Dale, Neb.) had a RBI-single to cut the deficit in half. A walk loaded the bases and Doane went to the bench, bringing Bob Mercier (FR/Lincoln, Neb.) to the plate with the bases loaded. With one swing of the bat, the Tigers took the lead as Mercier hit a light-tower blast for a grand slam home run to give Doane a 6-4 lead. Werner Park staff mentioned that Mercier's home run distance was up with the likes of Joey Gallo, a two-time 40-home run hitter for the Texas Rangers, for longest to right field. The grand slam was the sixth of the season for Doane.Peru State came back with a run in the bottom of the 6th to cut the Tiger lead in half, 6-5. The Bobcats were able to get the tying run on base in the 7th inning only to have Thaniel Trumper (FR/Fort Collins, Colo.) pick the runner off as he collected his sixth save of the season.Staley Gilmore (SR/Bellingham, Wash.) picked up the win for the Tigers, his first of the season. He threw 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and struck out one. Stensgard went 1-plus inning, allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Evan Mason (FR/Aurora, Colo.) threw 2.0 hitless innings, striking out two. Jerrad O'Malley (JR/Yutan, Neb.) threw 1.0 inning, allowing one run on two hits. Trumper threw the final inning of the game.Doane had nine hits in the game, two from Catlett. The Tigers left seven runners on base to Peru State's five. The Bobcats had six hits in the game.