ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Northwestern College baseball team (20-25, 12-16 GPAC) picks up their 20
th win of the season behind stout pitching and big innings offensively to complete the four-game sweep over rival Dordt University (12-32, 8-20 GPAC) at the Baseball Diamond.
Michael Zeigler homered for the first time in his Red Raider career, and
Isaac Thurm blasted his second long ball of the season on Senior Day.
The Raider pitching staff punched out 25 Dordt hitters in the two games today, while freshman southpaw
Drew Dykstra (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) set a new career-high with nine strike outs in his 5.0 innings of work in Game 2.
Northwestern has now won seven-straight games in the series with Dordt, including eight-straight at the Baseball Diamond in Orange City. The all-time series record improves to 124-47 in favor of Northwestern.
The Raiders played flawless baseball in Game 1 for the eighth time this season.
GAME 1: Northwestern 6, Dordt 5
Pitching Decisions
Win: Shane Geurink (2-0)
Loss: Dylan Brown (1-1)
Save: N/A
How It Happened
Dordt struck first in Game 3 of the series thanks to a 2 RBI double from Kaden Davis to open the scoring, as Dordt took the early 2-0 lead in the second inning.
Northwestern would respond immediately in the bottom half of the frame with four runs of their own, taking the 4-2 lead.
Evan Olesen (So., Estherville, Iowa/Estherville Lincoln Central) drove in the second Raider run to tie the game with a single through the right side.
Mo Watson (So., Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny) would then go deep for the second time in as many days.
After a quiet couple of frames, Dordt would strike again with a three-spot to take the 5-4 lead, and it would prove to be their last lead of the day.
Working with their final six outs, the Raiders did not disappoint the home fans pushing across two runs in the bottom half of the sixth to win the series.
Eli Rash (So., Lake Lotawana, Mo./Summit Christian Academy) drove in the tying run with the bases loaded with a single to short. What proved to be the game-winning run would cross the plate via a wild pitch as the Raiders took Game 3, 6-5.
Game Notes
- Eli Rash's on-base streak marches on, up to 22 straight-games; Jaden Snyder now has reached base in six-straight.
- Drew Dykstra notched a multi-hit game for the fourth time in the last five games he's batted in.
- Dylan Kirkeby was stellar on the mound today, punching out 10 Dordt hitters – one shy of his career-high.
- The 10 Ks marks a new season-high, topping the previous of seven he hit twice.
- Kirkeby went a solid 4.0 innings, allowing just four hits and two runs, while just walking four.
- Shane Geurink picks up the win out of the bullpen, as he improves to 2-0 on the season, going 2.0 innings and did not allow a base runner.
GAME 2: Northwestern 13, Dordt 3 (F/7)
Pitching Decisions
Win: Drew Dykstra (2-3)
Loss: Willem Hoekstra (0-4)
Save: N/A
How It Happened
Northwestern wasted no time getting on the board in Game 4, plating three runs in the opening frame. The innings was highlighted by an Olesen double down the left field line. In the second,
Mason Porepp (So., Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Southeast Polk) singled to third, scoring Watson, as Porepp beat the throw to first. Northwestern led 4-0 after two full.
In the fourth inning,
Michael Zeigler (Jr., San Antonio, Texas/Antonian College Prep) joined the home run party with his first career home run to left field, extending the Raider lead to 6-1.
Dordt would tack on two more runs in the sixth inning, but in the bottom half the Raiders would plate six to take a commanding 12-3 lead. The inning was highlighted by two big flys from Watson (5
th) and
Isaac Thurm (Sr., Humboldt, Iowa/Humboldt) (2
nd).
The game would come to a run-rule finish in the seventh. After a Watson single, Porepp would double into the left centerfield gap and Watson would come all the way around to score to end the game, as Northwestern prevailed 13-3.
Game Notes
- Five different Raiders notched RBIs, all recording at least two.
- Northwestern erupts for 14 hits in the run-rule victory.
- Evan Olesen records his third-straight multi-hit game.
- Mo Watson has recorded a hit in seven of the last eight games, including going deep in back-to-back days. He also recorded his second three-hit game of the year.
- Drew Dykstra had a career outing, tossing a new career-high nine Ks and issued just one walk in 5.0 innings.
- Ryan Reynolds made his 16th appearance of the season out of the pen, tossing a solid 1.1 innings and struck out three.
- The Raider pitching staff notched 13 strike outs in Game 4 of the series, while only issuing one walk.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach, Brian Wede (on the team's performance on the day…):
"Our guys did a really good job of finding a way to compete and sticking to the basics of the game. We really used the long ball really well again today."
Wede (sweeping arch-rival Dordt and winning seven-straight in the series…):
"We're just trying to take it one game at a time this weekend because we had to. It'll be the same mentality heading into the conference tournament."
Wede (on Dykstra's 22-game on-base streak…):
"Drew has been incredible. For a freshman to come in to compete as he has both as a pitcher and position player has been amazing. He's had an outstanding freshman season."
Wede (on the pitching staffs 25 strike outs on Day 2…):
"Our pitching was outstanding, 25 strike outs to five number of walks was phenomenal."
Wede (on securing a berth to the conference tournament…):
"This season has been a wild ride. Some of the goals we hoped to achieve weren't possible but we can still win the conference tournament. That was one of our goals coming in, and we've made the right first step. I like where we are at right now, we're peaking at the right time!
STATS OF THE GAME:
4 – Northwestern belted four more home runs today, bringing their total to 10 in the Dordt series and 32 on the season.
25 – The Raider pitching staff missed bats all afternoon long, waving 25 Dordt hitters.
SCOOTER'S PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Game 1: Dylan Kirkeby
Game 2: Isaac Thurm
Up Next: With the sweep against Dordt yesterday, Northwestern secured a bid to the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) conference tournament next week. Their seed and pod location are yet to be fully determined, more information to come in the coming days.
