Baseball Wins Third-Straight GPAC Title

Doane Baseball closed out the regular season on Sunday afternoon in Fremont against Midland University. The Tigers needed one win to secure the outright title for the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) and walked away with a 13-2 win in game one followed by an 11-8 win in game two. The Tigers finished the conference season with a 23-5 record, second most wins in GPAC history behind last year's squad that won 24 games.

The first game saw Doane strike early with three runs in the first inning. Joe Osborn started the scoring with an opposite field inside the park home run. With two outs, Luke LaChance delivered a double to plate two runs for a 3-0 lead. In the second inning, Doane added two runs on Osborn's second home run of the game. Midland plated their first run in the bottom of the inning, leaving the Tigers in front, 5-1.

Doane came right back in the third inning with two more runs for a 7-1 lead. Brett Meyer had a sacrifice fly and Logan Amick had an RBI-single. The Tigers plated three more runs in the fifth inning. Jack Tillman singled to plate a run and Narumi Okayasu hit a two-run home run off the scoreboard. Okayasu's home run is believed to be the first hit by a Japanese-born player in program history.

Midland had a solo home run in the sixth inning, leaving Doane in front, 10-2. In the seventh, the Tigers added their final three runs. Lukas White hit a two-run home run and Justin Nevells had an RBI-single.

Benefiting from the Tiger offensive attack was Kaden Crawford as he went 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out six. Jake Johnson closed out the win with a scoreless inning of work, allowing two hits and striking out one.

Amick led the Tigers with three hits, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one driven in. The Tigers had 16 hits in the game with every player in the starting lineup picking up a hit. Osborn went 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBI. White was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. LaChance went 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI. Tillman was 2-for-4 with a RBI and his courtesy runner, Tanner Black, scored twice. Okayasu was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI.

After a scoreless first inning of game one, the Tigers exploded for six runs in the second inning. Nevells started the Tigers with a solo home run. Amick delivered an RBI-single and Mensik added a bases-clearing, three-run double. LaChance added an RBI-single for the final run of the inning.

In the fourth inning, White hit a two-run home run to give Doane an 8-0 lead. The Warriors came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to trim the lead back to six runs. Both teams scored a run in the fifth inning, Doane's coming as Lukas White was hit by a pitch. In the sixth inning, the Tigers received a pinch-hit home run by Cristian Yanez for a 10-3 lead. Midland hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning and added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to cut Doane's lead to 10-7. White gave the Tigers a run back with a solo home run in the ninth and Midland countered with one in the bottom of the inning to cap the scoring.

Raidyn Steele started for Doane and went 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out three batters. Jake Johnson picked up the win, throwing one-third of an inning. Kellan Voggesser threw 2.0 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on two hits and a walk while striking out four. Jake King posted 2.0 innings, allowing one run on one hit and a walk with three strikeouts.

Doane posted 11 hits in the game, led by White going 2-for-3 with three runs scored and four RBI. LaChance was 2-for-6 and Meyer was 2-for-4 in the game.

Next up for the Tigers is the GPAC Tournament as they host one side of the bracket. Jamestown and Mount Marty will start the tournament off at 12 PM on Thursday, May 4, in Crete with Doane taking on Briar Cliff at 3 PM.