Baseball Hits Four Home Runs in Sweep of Hastings

Doane Baseball returned home on Sunday afternoon and eventually found their groove as they swept Hastings in a GPAC doubleheader. The Tigers won the opener, 7-1, and followed with a 12-2 win in game two. The wins moved the Tigers to 22-8 on the season and 8-4 in the GPAC.

After a scoreless first inning, Doane started the scoring in the second inning with an RBI-infield single by James Griess. A throwing error moved runners up as well on the play and Brett Meyer followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

In the third inning, Doane added a run on a Jack Tillman sac fly. In the fourth inning, Joe Osborn delivered an RBI-double to push the lead to 4-0. In the sixth inning, Osborn singled to plate another run and was followed by Lukas White, who hit a two-run home run for a 7-0 lead.

Hastings scored their lone run of the game in the seventh inning as they picked up half of their hits in the game during the frame.

Kaden Crawford needed just 81 pitches to throw a complete game for the Tigers. He allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out one in 7.0 innings of work.

At the plate, Doane finished with eight hits. Osborn was 3-for-4 with a run scored and two driven in. White was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two driven in as well.

In game two, Haldon Craig started for the Tigers and had faced the minimum number of batters through the first three innings. In holding the Broncos in check, the Doane offense was able to break out early.

In the bottom of the first inning, Doane's first five batters reached base with hits. Logan Amick led off with a single and scored on an Osborn two-run home run. White followed with a home run for a 3-0 lead. Justin Nevells and Luke LaChance followed with back-to-back doubles as the Tigers added another run to their lead. Following a wild pitch, Cristian Yanez drove in the fifth run of the inning with a ground out.  With two outs, Ben Grigsby walked and Tanner Black entered as a courtesy runner. He stole a base and scored on a single by Griess as Doane led 6-0 after the opening inning.

In the second inning, the Tigers added to their lead on an RBI-triple by Nevells. He scored on the play as the ball was thrown out of play as the Broncos tried to make a play at third base.

Hastings picked up their first hit of the game with one out in the fourth inning, an RBI-double following a walk. The Broncos would record four hits in the inning as they plated both of their runs in the game to cut the Doane lead to 8-2.

In the fifth inning, the Tigers plated three runs on one swing of the bat as Meyer hit a three-run home run for an 11-2 lead. White plated the final run with an RBI-groundout in the sixth inning. Doane shut the door in the seventh inning to invoke the 10-run mercy rule.

Tiger pitching combined to strike out 11 batters in game two. Craig went 3.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out four. Jake Johnson picked up the win with 1.2 innings of work, allowing two hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Kellan Voggesser threw the final 2.0 innings and allowed one hit while striking out three.

The Doane offense finished with 13 hits in the game as five players had multi-hit games. Griess finished 3-for-3 with a run scored and one driven in. Amick was 2-for-4 with a run scored while White was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two driven in. Nevells and LaChance each posted two hits, two runs, and an RBI. Meyer led the way with three RBI in the game.

A key to the sweep on the day was the Tigers' plate discipline, drawing eight walks while striking out only five times in the doubleheader.

Next up for the Tigers will be a four-game set with Jamestown on April 7-8. The games are scheduled for North Dakota but will likely be moved to another site due to snow and additional expected snow up north this week.