MITCHELL, S.D. – The Northwestern College baseball team (16-20, 8-12 GPAC) completed the four-game set with the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers (13-20, 7-13 GPAC), dropping the final two games of the series.
Braden Kalvelage notches his first-career start, hit, RBI, and double in the doubleheader.
Drew Dykstra ties his season- and career-high with seven strike outs in his Game 2 start.
GAME 1: Dakota Wesleyan 6, Northwestern 4 (F/7)
Pitching Decisions
Win: Matt Bezdicek (2-3)
Loss: Dylan Kirkeby (2-4)
Save: N/A
How It Happened
DWU started the game with a pair of runs in the first lead, holding a 2-0 lead after one.
The Raiders would get on the board with
Braden Kalvelage's (Fr., Hastings, Neb./Hastings) first-career RBI on a single, scoring
Tanner Schouten (Fr., Orange City, Iowa/Unity Christian), cutting the Tiger lead in half, 2-1.
In the third, the Raiders would draw even with an RBI sacrifice fly from
Mason Porepp (So., Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Southeast Polk).
Northwestern would load the bases with less than two outs in the fourth inning but could not push across a run to take their first lead of the game.
Dakota Wesleyan would answer with two of runs in the home half of the fourth thanks to a couple of hit-by-pitches and a Raider error, taking back the lead at 4-2.
The fifth inning saw the second sacrifice fly score a run for Northwestern, this time form
Colby Shelton (Fr., Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian).
The Raiders would find a way to pull even for the second time in the contest in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI single from
Sam Stanford (So., Los Angeles, Calif./Pacifica Christian) who scored
Evan Olesen (So., Estherville, Iowa/Estherville Lincoln Central) who reached on a single to begin the frame. The top half of the sixth would come to an end even at 4-4.
For the third time in the contest, the Tigers put up a two spot in the sixth to retake the lead, 6-4.
Game Notes
- Northwestern outhit the Tigers 10-3, but couldn't pull out a win.
- The loss marks the ninth time this season the Raiders have outhit an opponent but lost the game, seventh in GPAC play.
- Sam Stanford becomes the second Raider to hit 20+ RBIs on the season.
- Mo Watson extended his hit streak to five games and picked up his third multi-hit game of the year.
- Drew Dykstra tallies his ninth multi-hit game of the season.
- Jaden Snyder's five-game on-base streak came to a close.
- Colby Shelton hit double digit RBIs with his sacrifice fly (10 RBI) in his 23 games played this season.
- Mason Porepp joins a four-way tie for third on the team with his fifth double of the season.
- Freshman Braden Kalvelage made his first-career start in his Red Raider career this afternoon in left field. He went 1-for-2 with his RBI single in the second inning.
- Dylan Kirkeby went 5.0 innings, allowing just two earned runs (five total), yet just surrendering one DWU hit.
- Ben Zeutenhorst made his sixth appearance of the season out the pen, going one inning giving up one run and two hits.
GAME 2: Dakota Wesleyan 4, Northwestern 3
Pitching Decisions
Win: Jereko Martinez (2-3)
Loss: Drew Dykstra (1-2)
Save: Troy Wilhelm (1)
How It Happened
The Tigers struck first in the home half of the first again, plating another two runs to start the game with a 2-0 lead.
A run in both the second and third innings brought the game even at 2-2. An RBI groundout from
Jacob Kindhart (Jr., Shawnee, Kan./St. James Academy) cut the DWU deficit to 2-1, while a Tiger error evened up the game in the fourth.
Two runs in the bottom of the fifth would give DWU the 4-2 lead after five full from Cadwell Park.
In the seventh, Northwestern gets the first two hitters on base but momentum is cut by a double play. An RBI single from Olesen would cut the Tiger lead to 4-3.
Northwestern was unable to do anything offensively in the final two frames as Dakota Wesleyan would prevail 4-2 to take the four-game set 3-1.
Game Notes
- For the second straight game the Raiders outhit the Tigers (9-6) but could not walk away with the win.
- Eli Rash has reached base for 13 straight games, picking up a walk in Game 2.
- Braden Kalvelage notches first multi-hit game of his Red Raider career, including his first career double.
- Mason Porepp notches his fourth multi-hit game of the season, also scoring two of the three Raider runs.
- Evan Olesen notched back-to-back multi-hit games, reaching base safely in five of his last six games.
- Drew Dykstra threw 5.0 innings, starting the series finale, scattering five Tiger hits and allowing four runs.
- He tied a season- and career-high with seven strike outs in the performance.
- Shane Geurink made his seventh appearance out of the bullpen this afternoon, tossing two innings and allowing just one DWU hit.
- Ryan Reynolds made his 13th appearance on the mound in the eighth inning today, allowing one hit and also striking out one.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach, Brian Wede (on Kalvelage's multiple career-firsts…):
"Kalvelage was awesome and took advantage of chances today! It was great to see him compete."
STAT OF THE GAME:
19 – Northwestern tallied 19 hits in the doubleheader this afternoon in South Dakota, outhitting Dakota Wesleyan in both games.
Up Next: The Raiders will return to the field back in Orange City on Tuesday, April 19 as the No. 17-ranked Braves of Ottawa University (Kan.) (35-5, 23-3 KCAC) to complete the four-game set at the Baseball Diamond. First pitch is set for noon (12:00 p.m.).
