• Bears sweep doubleheader on May 5, 7-6 and 7-2
• DMACC takes both games on May 6, 5-4 and 10-9
• Bears will be the No. 6 seed in the NJCAA Region 11 Division II Baseball Tournament

The DMACC baseball team closed out the 2023 regular season with a four-game winning streak after sweeping a pair of doubleheaders from Southwestern Community College (SWCC) May 5 and 6 at the DMACC baseball diamond.

The Bears won by scores of 7-6 and 7-2 on May 5 and came away with 5-4 and 10-9 decisions on May 6 to improve to 31-23 overall and 19-14 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).

DMACC will be the No. 6 seed in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 11 Division II Baseball Tournament May 11 to 14 at West Burlington.

Freshman Dillon Kuehl of Urbandale homered and drove in two runs and freshman Kannon Coakley of Maquoketa had a pair of hits in DMACC's win in the opener on May 5. The Bears had a 4-2 lead after three innings but a four-run rally by SWCC in the top of the fourth gave the Spartans a 6-4 lead. DMACC scores single runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings to come away with the win.

The Bears got a triple from sophomore Brodie Kresser of Jesup and sophomore Gage Franck of Marion joined Kuehl with two RBIs.

Sophomore Joe Husak of Cambridge pitched the first four innings for DMACC, allowing six runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked two. Freshman Jai Jensen of Clinton went three and two-thirds innings, allowing two hits, striking out one and walking three. Freshman Zach Hoehn of Waseca, Minn., went a third of an inning and got one strikeout. He earned the win to improve to 1-1 for the season.

Freshmen Mitchell Cummins of Chanhassen, Minn., and sophomore Reed Stallman of Alburnett drove in three runs apiece in DMACC's win in the second game. Stallman and Franck had two hits apiece in the win. Cummins homered and Stallman and freshman Cy Patterson of Council Bluffs each doubled.

DMACC led 3-0 after the first inning and 4-0 after two innings. The Bears closed out the win with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and SWCC tallied its only two runs in the top of the sixth.

Freshman C.J. Dermody of Council Bluffs improved to 5-5 with the win. He pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits, striking out seven and walking one. Sophomore Drew Scherbenske of Rapid City, S.D., pitched one inning, allowing two runs on one hit and walking two and freshman Eli Lehrman of Anamosa went one inning and struck out one batter.

Patterson singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by sophomore Sergio Lira Ayala of Nappannee, Ind., in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the Bears the win in the first game on May 6.

DMACC scored single runs in each of the first three innings and added a run in the bottom of the sixth for a 4-2 lead after SWCC tallied twice in the top of the sixth. The Spartans tied it with runs in the top of the seventh and eighth innings.

Freshman Cory Bantam of Woodbine sparked DMACC's 12-hit attack with three hits, including a double, and Patterson, Lira Ayala and freshman Aiden Brown of Des Moines had two hits apiece. Extra-base hits included doubles by Bantam and Brown and freshman Tomas Lee of Minnetonka, Minn., led the Bears in RBIs with two.

Freshman Camden Kaufman of Waukee pitched the first three innings for DMACC, allowing two hits, striking out two and walking one. Freshman Vinny Mauro of Norwalk went one inning and gave up one hit. He struck out three and walked three. Freshman Cooper Smith of Johnston threw one inning and allowed three runs on one hit with three walks and Lehrman threw one inning, striking out two and walking one. Hoehn pitched the last three innings and earned his second win against one loss. He allowed one run on two hits and walked one batter.

DMACC scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the final game of the series. The Bears led 3-2 after two innings and scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5-5. SWCC scored four times in the top of the sixth to go ahead 9-5 before DMACC closed to within 9-7 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Keuhl, Lee, Patterson, Lira Ayala and freshmen Even Behn of Boone and Jaylen Ziegler of Urbandale had two hits apiece in the win and Behn drove in two runs. Lira Ayala hit a pair of doubles and Patterson and Bantam also doubled.

Freshman Max Martin of Franklin, Wis., pitched the first two innings and allowed two runs on four hits. He struck out one and walked one. Freshman Jackson Horras of Pekin went two innings and gave up one run on one hit with two strikeouts and two walks. Freshman Jackie Smith of Johnston went an inning and allowed five runs on two hits with four walks and a strikeout and freshman Alex Berends of Story City gave up a run on three hits in one inning on the mound. Freshman Nick Weipen of Omaha, Neb., improved to 1-0 with the win. He worked one inning, allowing one hit, striking out two batters and walking two.

The DMACC baseball team will face Kirkwood Community College (KCC) in the first round of the Region 11 Division II tournament. The game will begin at 2 p.m. May 11 at West Burlington. The Eagles are the No. 3 seed and bring a 23-10 record into the game. They won two of three games against DMACC during the regular season.