Baseball Splits On Day Two of GPAC Tournament

Doane Baseball continued play in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday as they opened the day against Mount Marty. In a low-scoring affair, the Lancers knocked off the Tigers, 3-0, and dropped Doane into the consolation bracket. In bounce back fashion, the Tigers rebounded for a 16-0 win over Briar Cliff and advanced to play on Saturday.

Mount Marty scored two runs in the sixth inning and one in the eighth to account for their runs. Doane finished the game with six hits, two from Lukas White as he went 2-for-4.

Julian Vargas started for the Tigers and went 7.0-plus innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out eight. Jake Johnson picked up the final six outs, recording 2.0 innings and allowing one walk and striking out one.

In an elimination game, the Tigers jumped on Briar Cliff early with three runs in the first and seven more in the second inning. The Tigers added a run in the sixth, four more in the seventh, and one in the ninth for their scoring.

Doane pounded out 23 hits in the game with three players having four apiece. White went 4-for-7 with two runs and two RBI. Luke LaChance was 4-for-6 with four runs and two RBI. Narumi Okayasu was 4-for-5 with two runs and four RBI. Nate Mensik was 3-for-6 with two runs and one RBI. Justin Nevells went 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBI and Cristian Yanez was 2-for-5 with two RBI.

Kaden Crawford started for the Tigers and went 2.0 innings, allowing one hit. Zach Schuchardt came in and nearly doubled his season output by going 7.0 innings and allowing one hit and one walk with four strikeouts. Schuchardt collected the win to improve to 3-0 on the season.

Next up for the Tigers will be a rematch with Mount Marty on Saturday, May 6, at 12:00 PM (noon). A win in the first game would lead to a winner-take-all game at 3:00 PM for the bracket championship.