Forrest, Osborn Hit Career Milestones in Baseball Sweep

Baseball traveled to Sioux City, Iowa, to take on Briar Cliff in a crucial GPAC series to open the weekend. The two teams entered the doubleheader tied for first place in the loss column (Doane 12-4, BCU 10-4). The Tigers won a tight game in the opener, 3-1, and then rolled past the Chargers in game two, 18-2.

The opening game was scoreless through five innings of play. In the top of the sixth inning, Aaron Vulcano led off the inning with a solo home run for a 1-0 lead. Briar Cliff came back with two hits in the bottom of the sixth, combined with a Doane error, to tie the game.

In the seventh inning, Narumi Okayasu put the Tigers back in front with an RBI-double. He came around to score on a Noah Winkelman RBI-single for a 3-1 advantage.

In the bottom of the seventh, Aaron Forrest closed out the game with a strikeout, his eighth of the game to give the Tigers the win. Forrest improved to 8-0 on the season and collected his school record, 25th victory for the Tigers. He finished the game with 7.0 innings allowing one unearned run on four hits and two walks.

Doane had nine hits in the game as Vulcano went 3-for-3 and Justin Nevells went 2-for-3.

In game two, Joe Osborn started the game with a solo home run. The RBI he collected was his 187th career RBI, breaking the school record. Noah Winkelman and Justin Nevells added RBIs in the first inning for a 3-0 lead.

Okayasu posted an RBI-single in the second inning for the team's fourth run of the game. In the third inning, the Tigers added three more runs. Brayden Jones had an RBI-single while Nate Mensik and Osborn were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded. BCU scored a run in the bottom of the inning, leaving the Tigers with a 7-1 lead.

Dane Kelsey extended the Doane lead with an RBI-single in the fourth inning and Carson Baker pushed the lead to 9-1 as he scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth inning, Vulcano hit a two-run home run.

Doane exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning. Dionysius Chialtas had an infield single to plate a run and Jones followed with a three-run home run. Winkelman added a two-run single with Cristian Yanez capping the inning with a sacrifice fly to plate a run. Briar Cliff used a home run in the bottom of the seventh to close out the scoring.

The Tigers had 17 hits in the game with Vulcano going 3-for-4 with four runs and two RBI. Okayasu was 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Winkelman, Nevells, Kelsey, Chialtas, and Jones had two hits apiece. Jones led the Tigers with four RBI in the game.

The 18 runs in the game was a season-high for the Tigers and the most the team has scored since posting 18 against Jamestown last year on April 7.

Kellan Voggesser picked up the win as he went 4.0 innings and allowed one run on three hits and two walks while striking out three. Haldon Craig threw 2.0 hitless innings, allowing three walks and striking out two. Cade Bridges made his pitching debut and threw 1.0 inning, allowing one run on one hit with one strikeout.

After a day off, the Tigers will return to the field to take on Midland. First pitch on Sunday, April 14, is set for 1 PM in Crete.