GPAC

[Baseball] Baseball Sweeps; Snags Share of GPAC Crown

Doane Baseball closed the regular season on Sunday in Jamestown, N.D., and will make the 10-hour trip home as GPAC Champions. The Tigers swept Jamestown and then received a little help from their fellow Tigers in the GPAC, Dakota Wesleyan, to claim a share of the conference crown. Doane won 8-3 and 16-12 on the day and saw DWU defeat Concordia in their final game in order to give Doane a share of the GPAC crown with the Bulldogs. Doane and Concordia will host brackets of the GPAC Tournament with the Bulldogs getting the top seed by a few percentage points in the tie-breaker. Game OneDoane jumped out to an 8-0 lead as they cruised to the victory in game one of the day. The Tigers started the scoring in the 2nd inning.. Nate Mensik (FR/Pleasant Dale, Neb.) drove in the first two runs of the game with a single. Lukas White (SO/Castaic, Calif.) added a RBI-single for a 3-0 lead.In the 5th inning, Talon Little (JR/Lincoln, Neb.) opened the frame with a double and came around to score on a double by Jaryn Nakamoto (SR/Aiea, Hawaii). Doane added four runs in the 6th inning as four consecutive hitters collected a RBI. Little had a RBI-single followed by a RBI-double from Joe Osborn (FR/Hickman, Neb.). Brett Meyer (FR/Seward, Neb.) plated a run with a sacrifice fly and Tucker Catlett (SR/Lincoln, Neb.) capped the scoring with a RBI-single.Jamestown scored one run in the bottom of the 6th and two in the 7th for their scoring.Nakamoto was 2-for-2 with a run scored and two driven in. Little had a two-hit game as did Mensik. Doane had 14 hits in the game as every starter had a base hit.Jordan Wisner (JR/Anaheim Hills, Calif.) improved to 8-1 on the season, going 6.0 innings and allowing one run on five hits while striking out six. Christian McCown (JR/Diller, Neb.) allowed two runs and Staley Gilmore (SR/Bellingham, Wash.) picked up the final three outs of the game. Game TwoQuiet innings were not common in the final game as the teams combined for 28 runs. Jamestown made a push in the final inning before the Tigers were able to shut the door on the Jimmies' rally.Both teams put base runners on in the opening two innings only to come up empty on the scoreboard. In the 3rd inning, the Tigers were able to load the bases following an intentional walk to get to Little. The Tigers' home run leader stepped up and crushed the ball to right field for a grand slam. The blast was his 15th home run of the season, establishing a new school record for home runs.Jamestown came back with three runs in the bottom of the 3rd, leaving Doane in front, 4-3. In the 4th, the Tigers extended their lead with two runs. Luke LaChance (FR/Littleton, Colo.) scored the first run by stealing home and then Mensik drove in one with a RBI-double for a 6-3 lead.Doane's bullpen was called on in the 4th inning and Jerrad O'Malley (JR/Yutan, Neb.) threw two scoreless frames. Meanwhile, the offense continued to put runs on the board. Meyer had a sacrifice fly to plate run in the 5th inning for a 7-3 lead. The Tigers scored four runs in the 6th to go up 11-3. Andy Theiler (JR/Arlington, Neb.) hit a two-run home run, which was followed up by White with a solo home run. Nakamoto plated the final run of the inning with a RBI-ground out.Hyunjun Chung (SO/Seoul, South Korea) came in to pitch in the bottom of the 6th and threw a scoreless inning. Jack Tillman (SO/Omaha, Neb.) kept the Tiger scoreline moving up as he hit a solo home run in the 7th for a 12-3 lead. A two-out error by the Tigers in the bottom of the 7th allowed the Jimmies to plate four unearned runs on Chung before the inning came to a close.The Tigers were able to get the runs back in quick fashion as Little led off the 8th inning with a single and scored on an Osborn two-run home run. Gilmore closed out the 7th and threw a scoreless 8th inning for Doane. In the 9th inning, Theiler hit his second 2-run home run of the game to take a 16-7 lead. The Jimmies were not going to go quietly though in the bottom of the inning as they scored five runs on seven hits. With the tying run in the on-deck circle, Doane turned to Little to go to the mound to try and pick up the final out. Jamestown tried a bunt to sneak a runner on the base path but Tillman pounced out from behind the plate to collect the ball and fire to first for the final out of the game.Kyler Beekman (FR/Elkhorn, Neb.) threw 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with two strikeouts. O'Malley threw 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and picking up his collegiate win. Chung threw 1.2 innings, allowing four unearned runs with two strikeouts. Gilmore threw 2.0 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, and Thaniel Trumper (FR/Fort Collins, Colo.) allowed two runs. Little picked up his first collegiate save by picking up the final out of the game.At the plate, Doane had 18 hits as every starter had at least one hit and six players had multi-hit games. Theiler was 2-for-6 with two runs scored and four RBIs. White was 2-for-4 with three runs and a RBI. Little was 2-for-5 with three runs scored and four driven in. Osborn was 3-for-6 with a run scored and two RBIs. Nakamoto had two hits with Tillman having three hits.