The DMACC baseball team improved to 7-5 for the season with a four-game sweep of Western Technical College (WTC) March 16th and 17th at Joplin, Mo.
The Bears won by scores of 11-0 and 18-4 on March 16th and came away with 11-0 and 7-0 wins on March 17th. The first three games were called after five innings because of the mercy rule.
Sophomore Austin Murr of Stillwater, Minn., homered and drove in four runs to lead DMACC to its win in the opener on March 16th. The Bears grabbed a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first and padded their advantage with four runs in the bottom of the second. They closed out the win with five runs in the bottom of the third.
Sophomore Denver Blinn of West Fargo, N.D., scored three runs and drove in a pair of runs for DMACC and Murr, sophomores Misael Sanchez of Allentown, Penn., and sophomore Jacob Pinkerton of Beatrice, Neb., scored two runs apiece. Blinn and Sanchez had doubles in the win.
Sophomore Jackson Uner of Maplewood, Minn., pitched all five innings and leveled his record at 1-1 with the win. He allowed one hit, struck out eight and walked one.
Murr had three hits and drove in three runs and freshman Dylan Voves of Mason City collected a pair of hits and also drove in three runs for DMACC in the second game on March 16. The Bears all but put the game out of reach with nine runs in the bottom of the first. They made it 10-0 with a run in the second and put the game away with four runs in each of the third and fourth innings.
Murr and freshman Garret Reisz of Council Bluffs hit doubles in the game and Blinn and sophomore Morgan Holmes of Minneapolis, Minn., each homered. Holmes also had a pair of RBIs.
Freshman Logan Ymker of Sioux Falls, S.D., improved to 1-1 for the season with the win. He pitched four innings, allowing three runs on one hit. He struck out 11 and walked six. Freshman Cole Schumacher of Bennington, Neb., pitched one inning and allowed one run on one hit. He struck out one batter.
The Bears got two RBIs apiece from Holmes, freshman T.J. Mahoney of Des Moines and sophomore Calen Schwabe of Thompson, N.D., in taking the first game on March 17th. DMACC broke a scoreless tie with 10 runs in the bottom of the third and added another run in the bottom of the fourth.
Voves, sophomore Roman Vega of Buffalo, Minn., and Schwabe scored two runs apiece in the win.
Sophomore Spencer Hanson of West Des Moines came away with his third win of the season against one loss. He worked five innings, allowing two hits, striking out eight and walking one.
Five DMACC pitchers combined on a one-hitter as the Bears took the final games of the series.
Holmes paced DMACC at the plate with two hits and Schwabe drove in two runs.
The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, scored two runs each in the second and third innings and added single runs in the fifth and sixth.
Sophomore Henry Ristvedt of Savage, Minn., pitched the first four innings and improved to 1-1 with the win. He allowed one hit, struck out seven and walked two. Sophomore Jakob Richardson of Cave Creek, Ariz., pitched an inning and struck out one batter and freshman Hayden Thompson of Maple Grove, Minn., recorded two strikeouts in one inning on the mound. Freshman Thomas Bruchu of Stillwater, Minn., worked two-thirds of an inning, retiring the two batters he faced, and sophomore Chris Witzke of Humboldt threw a third of an inning and struck out the only batter he faced.
The DMACC baseball team will face the Simpson College junior varsity in a doubleheader March 20th at Indianola.