• DMACC begins trip with wins over North Central Texas College and Kansas City (Kan.) Community College
• Dallas College Eastfield sweeps three games against the Bears
• DMACC travels to Oklahoma for next series

The DMACC baseball team saw its record slip to 4-4 after losing three of five games on a trip to Texas February 16 to 18.

The Bears began the trip with games against North Central Texas College (NCTC) and Kansas City (Kan.) Community College (KCKCC) Feb. 16 and won both, 19-2 in five innings against NCTC and 4-3 against KCKCC.

DMACC then faced Dallas College Eastfield (DCE) in a doubleheader on Feb. 17 and a single game on Feb. 18 and lost all three games, 6-4 and 4-3 on Feb. 17 and 7-5 on Feb. 18.

Sophomore Camden Kaufman of Waukee had three hits and drove in three runs in DMACC's win over NCTC. The Bears led all the way, 4-0 after one inning, 7-0 after two innings and 9-0 after three innings. They put the game out of reach with 10 runs in the top of the fifth. NCTC scored its only two runs in the bottom of the inning.

Sophomores Jaylen Ziegler of Urbandale, Cael Boever of Sioux City and Kannon Coakley of Maquoketa and freshman Colin Driscoll of Waukee had two hits apiece and Coakley and Driscoll drove in two runs apiece. Coakley belted a home run, Boever tripled and Driscoll had a double.

Sophomore Ty Madison of Omaha, Neb., went the distance to get the win, leveling his record at 1-1. He allowed two runs on four hits and struck out seven.

Sophomore Noah Thein of Dewitt had three hits and Kaufman collected two RBIs in the win over KCKCC. The Bears led 1-0 after the first inning and broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the top of the fifth. They closed out the win with two runs in the sixth and KCKCC tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Sophomore J.C. Dermody of Council Bluffs pitched the first three and a third innings, allowing one run on one hit with four strikeouts and four walks. Freshman Brennan Haman of West Fargo, N.D., went two and a third innings and earned the win in his first decision of the season. He struck out two batters. Freshman Eli Lehrman of Anamosa got the save with an inning and a third on the mound. He allowed two runs on two hits and walked two batters.

DCE used a four run rally in the bottom of the second and single runs in the third and eighth innings to top the Bears in the opener on Feb. 17. DMACC led 2-0 after the first inning, scored again in the fourth and added a run in the eighth to gain a 3-3 tie before DCE rallied in the bottom of the inning.

Kaufman again led the Bears at the plate with two hits, including a double. Freshman Kaden Frommelt of Marion and sophomore Maddox Johnston of Chanhassen, Minn., also doubled in the game and sophomore Evan Behn of Boone drove in two runs. Johnston also had an RBI.

Sophomore Jake Porter of Winterset started on the mound for DMACC and went just a third of an inning, issuing three walks. Sophomore Vinny Mauro of Norwalk pitched one inning and suffered the loss to fall to 0-1 for the season. He allowed four runs on four hits, struck out two and walked one. Sophomore Max Martin of Franklin, Wis., went three and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on four hits with a strikeout and freshman Bobby Uthe of Ames worked two innings and struck out four batters. Sophomore Ales Berends of Story City pitched the final inning and surrendered one run with two strikeouts and a walk.

DCE pushed across one run in the bottom of the sixth and scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 3-0 DMACC lead and come away with the win in the second game on Feb. 17.

DMACC, which took the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth, got a pair of hits and an RBI from Boever, who had a double as did Johnston. Sophomore Tomas Lee of Minnetonka, Minn., also drove in a run for the Bears.

Sophomore Chance Key of Waverly pitched the first five innings, allowing three hits, striking out 10 and walking two. Sophomore Jackson Horras of Pekin went two-thirds of an inning and allowed one run on one hit with a walk and sophomore Kaleb Gengler of Sioux City suffered the loss in one inning on the mound. He allowed three runs on two hits, struck out one and walked four to fall to 1-1 for the season.

Behn had two hits and drove in two runs as DCE took the final game of the series on Feb. 18. DCE led 4-0 after three innings before DMACC tied it with two runs in the fourth and two in the fifth. The Bears grabbed a 5-4 lead with a run in the top of the seventh but DCE responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to sweep the series.

Kaufman and Johnston also had RBIs for DMACC.

Freshman Carter Woollums of Johnston pitched the first three innings for the Bears, allowing four runs on six hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Sophomore Jacob Sjuts of Humphrey, Neb., struck out two and walked one in an inning on the mound and Lehrman fell to 1-1 in two-thirds of an inning. He allowed three runs on one hit and walked one batter.

The DMACC baseball team will travel to Enid, Okla., for games against Northern Oklahoma College-Enid on Feb. 23 and 24.