Baseball Splits Home Opener with McPherson

Doane Baseball played their first home games of the season on Tuesday as they hosted McPherson (Kan.). It marked the first time the Bulldogs have made the trip to Crete with nine of the 10 all-time meetings taking place in Kansas and one in Missouri.

McPherson won the first game of the day, 4-1, behind a pair of unearned runs in the first inning and two more runs in the second inning. Bulldog pitching limited the Tiger bats in the opener as Doane finished with three hits.

Doane was able to get on the board in the sixth inning on a Jack Tillman single to drive in Narumi Okayasu, who had reached on a double.

Kaden Crawford took the loss, throwing 5.0 innings and allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Hyunjun Chung threw 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out one.

In the second game, McPherson came out with two runs in the top of the first again but the Tigers answered back quickly. Joe Osborn led off the bottom of the inning with a double and scored on a single by Lukas White. Justin Nevells hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the inning.

Doane took their first lead of the day in the third inning when three runs crossed the plate. Like the opening frame, Osborn doubled and scored on a White single. Cristian Yanez drove in the second run with an error on the play leading to the third run of the inning.

In the fifth inning, Doane pushed their lead to 7-2 with two more runs. Justin Nevells plated a run on a sacrifice bunt and Luke LaChance drove in a run on a ground out.

Haldon Craig started for the Tigers and went 3.0-plus innings and picked up the win as he left the game with the lead and was on a pitch count. He allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks while striking out five. Raidyn Steele threw 1.0 scoreless inning, allowing one walk. Kyler Beekman picked up the save with 3.0 innings of work, allowing one walk and striking out four.

Offensively, Doane posted 10 hits in the game. White and Okayasu went 3-for-3 with two runs scored. White also drove in two runs. Osborn was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Nevells was 1-for-1 with two runs batted in.

Next up for the Tigers is the conference opener as Dakota Wesleyan comes to town on March 18-19. First pitch both days is scheduled for 12 PM.