Baseball Races into Title Game with Sweep of Lancers

Doane Baseball won a pair of games on Saturday to advance to the GPAC Championship game on Tuesday after they defeated Mount Marty twice, 10-4 and 14-11. Doane will host the conference title game for the first time in program history.

In the opening game, Doane was the visiting team on the scoreboard and plated five runs in the top of the second inning. Ben Grigsby started the scoring with a two-run single. Joe Osborn followed with an RBI-single and Lukas White delivered a two-run double. For White, a day after becoming the hits king, he took sole possession of the RBI career record at Doane.

Mount Marty plated three runs in the fourth inning to cut into the Tiger lead. They used three RBI-singles to trim the score to 5-3.

The Tigers came back in the sixth inning with three runs. White had a sacrifice fly which was followed by RBI-singles from Nate Mensik and Narumi Okayasu. The Lancers scored a run in the bottom of the sixth, leaving Doane up 8-4.

In the eighth inning, Osborn hit a two-run home run to cap the game's scoring.

Raidyn Steele started for the Tigers and went 5.0 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk while striking out four. Jake Johnson picked up his first save of the season with 4.0 innings out of the bullpen, allowing one run on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Doane finished the game with 16 hits, three apiece from Osborn and Grigsby. Osborn was 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI while Grigsby was 3-for-4 with two RBI and his courtesy runner, Tanner Black, scored three runs. White was 2-for-4 with three RBI. Mensik, Okayasu, and Cristian Yanez had two hits apiece. Brett Meyer scored twice as well.

In the second game, the bullpens were put to full use for both teams in the winner-take-all final game of the bracket. Doane was the home team and after Kaden Crawford struck out the side to open the top of the first inning, the Tigers plated two runs for the early lead.

Mensik and Okayasu gave the Tigers the lead in the bottom of the first. Mensik doubled to plate Osborn after a leadoff walk and Okayasu singled to score Mensik. The Lancers picked up a run in the second inning on a solo home run.

Doane answered the Lancers' run with three more in the bottom of the second for a 5-1 lead. Grigsby had an infield single to plate the first run and White singled to drive in two more.

In the third inning, Mount Marty scored three runs to pull within one run, 5-4. A wild pitch scored one run and a two-run home run scored the final runs of the top half of the inning.

The Tigers answered once again in the bottom of the third by pushing seven runs across the plate. A double by Yanez cleared the bases to give Doane an 8-4 lead. Osborn and White added back-to-back doubles to push three more runs across. An error gave Doane their final run of the inning as they led 12-4.

In the fourth inning, Mount Marty hit another solo home run only to have Doane come back with a run on an Osborn RBI-single. The Lancers hit two home runs in the fifth inning to score three runs, leaving the Tigers with a 13-8 lead.

In the eight, Grigsby singled to plate a run for the Tigers' 14th run of the game. The Lancers scored three in the bottom of the ninth on two singles before the final out was recorded.

Crawford, starting on back-to-back days, went 3.0 innings and allowed four runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three. Kyler Beekman made his return to the mound and went 3.0 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks, while picking up the win (5-1). Kellan Voggesser picked up the save as he threw 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out five.

Doane had 17 hits in the second game as Yanez was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and three driven in. James Griess pinch ran for Yanez in the eighth and also scored a run. Grigsby was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Black scored twice as the courtesy runner. Osborn went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. White and Okayasu had two hits apiece with White matching Yanez and Osborn with three RBI.

Next up for the Tigers will be the GPAC Championship game on Tuesday, May 9, at 3:00 PM against Concordia. The Bulldogs went 3-0 in the bracket held in Seward. This is the second time the two have met for the tournament title, with the first coming in 2021 in Seward.