• Jake Thilges belts two home runs and drives in five runs in a 12-9 win
• Thilges hits two more home runs and drives in seven in a 24-3 win
• Drew Scherbenske and Bret Price, Jr., pick up pitching victories

Jake Thilges had a day most baseball players can only dream about as the DMACC baseball team swept a doubleheader from Southwestern Community College (SWCC) April 12 at Creston.

Thilges, a Covid-19 freshman from Johnston, belted four home runs and drove in 12 runs as the Bears defeated the Spartans by scores of 12-9 and 24-3. He hit two home runs and drove in five runs in the opener and blasted two more home runs and drove in seven runs in the second game.

The wins give DMACC a 24-12 record overall and a 10-5 mark in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).

The Bears won the opener behind a three-run rally in the top of the eighth. DMACC led 4-2 after the first inning and broke a 4-4 tie with two runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth. SWCC, which scored twice in the first inning and twice in the third, tied the game with four runs in the sixth and one in the seventh.

DMACC freshman Brodie Kresser of Jesup led the Bears' 12-hit attack with four hits, including a pair of doubles. Thilges, freshman Reed Stallman of Alburnett and CoFR Jayden Singleton of Des Moines had two hits apiece, including doubles by Stallman and Singleton. Kresser collected two RBIs in the win.

CoFR Jackson Stewart of Urbandale pitched the first five and two-thirds innings for DMACC, allowing seven runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked five. CoFR Ben Dixon of Sioux City surrendered one run on two hits and was not credited with any innings pitched and freshman Drew Scherbenske of Rapid City, S.D., got the win behind two and a third innings on the mound. Scherbenske, who is 1-1, allowed one run on two hits.

DMACC put the second game away early, scoring eight runs in the first inning and seven in the third. The Bears pulled away with five runs in the fourth and four in the fifth and the game was called because of the mercy rule after SWCC batted in the bottom of the fifth.

Thilges had two singles to go with his home runs and CoFR Tre Mungin of Omaha, Neb., had three hits and drove in four runs. Stallman, Singleton and sophomore Jake Brill of Maple, Wis., had two hits apiece, including a pair of doubles from Brill and a triple from Stallman. Stallman and freshman Sam Holling of Waukesha, Wis., drove in two runs apiece.

Covid-19 sophomore (CoSO) Bret Price, Jr., of Boone, went the distance for DMACC and improved to 3-1 with the win. He allowed three runs on four hits, struck out seven and walked three.

The DMACC baseball team will host Ellsworth Community College (ECC) in a three-game series April 15 and 16 at the DMACC baseball diamond. The two teams will play a doubleheader on April 15 and a nine-inning single game on April 16. ECC is 6-29 overall and 2-14 in the ICCAC.