• Sophomore Camden Kaufman and freshman Colin Driscoll homer in DMACC's win in the opener on Feb. 23
• Sophomore Dillon Kuehl homers in the Bears' win in the opener on Feb. 24
• Sophomores Ty Madison and Chance Key get the victories

The DMACC baseball team stands at 6-6 for the season after splitting a four-game series against Northern Oklahoma College-Enid (NOCE) February 23 and 24 at Enid, Oklahoma.

Sophomore Camden Kaufman and freshman Colin Driscoll, both of Waukee, homered to lead the Bears to a 5-4 win in the opener on Feb. 23 and sophomore Dillon Kuehl of Urbandale belted a round-tripper as DMACC took the first game on Feb. 24, 5-2. Sophomore Ty Madison of Omaha, Neb., leveled his record at 1-1 with the win on Feb. 23 and sophomore Chance Key of Waverly notched the victory on Feb. 24 in what was his first decision of the season.

Sophomore Cael Boever of Sioux City had three hits and Driscoll drove in a pair of runs in DMACC's win on Feb. 23. The Bears trailed 2-0 after two innings and 4-2 after four innings before scoring a run in the top of the seventh to get the win. Freshman Kaden Frommelt of Marion accounted for one of DMACC's two extra-base hits with a double and Kuehl hit a triple. Kuehl, Boever and Kaufman drove in one run apiece.

Madison went the distance in getting the win. He allowed four runs on seven hits, struck out seven and walked one.

DMACC was held to just three hits in losing the second game, 11-1, in five innings. The hits included doubles by Kuehl and Boever and Boever drove in the lone DMACC run.

Sophomore J.C. Dermody of Council Bluffs threw the first two innings and fell to 0-1 with the loss. He allowed five runs on four hits, struck out two and walked three. Freshman Konner Entz of West Fargo, N.D., also pitched two innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Sophomore Thomas Leiden of Omaha, Neb., went a third of an inning, allowing four runs on one hit. He struck out one and walked one.

Kuehl homered and sophomores Tomas Lee of Minnetonka, Minn., Kannon Coakley of Maquoketa and Noah Thein of Dewitt and freshman Carter Bryan of Johnston each doubled in DMACC's 5-2 win in the first game on Feb. 24.

Both teams scored a run in the first inning and DMACC opened up a 4-1 lead with three runs in the top of fifth. NOCE made it a 4-2 game with a run in the bottom of the fifth and DMACC tallied an insurance run in the top of the seventh. 

Lee, Kuehl, Thein and sophomore Jaylen Ziegler of Urbandale drove in runs for the Bears.

Key threw the first four and two-thirds innings in getting the victory. He allowed two runs on four hits, struck out five and walked two. Freshman Brennan Haman of West Fargo, N.D., earned his first save with two and a third innings on the mound. He allowed two hits and struck out three batters.

DMACC scored a run in the third, four in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 6-2 lead in the last game of the series, but NOCE rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fifth and then scored again in the bottom of the sixth to get the victory.

Boever and Frommelt paced DMACC's eight-hit attack with two hits apiece, including a double by Boever. Driscoll belted a triple and freshman Sam Hesselmann of Johnston and Frommelt hit home runs. Hesselmann drove in three of the DMACC runs and Driscoll, Boever and Frommelt had one RBI apiece.

The Bears used eight pitchers in the game. Freshman Carter Woollums of Johnston threw two and a third innings, allowing two runs on four hits with one strikeout. Sophomore Jackson Horras of Pekin went an inning and two-thirds and struck out one batter and sophomore Jake Porter of Winterset went two-thirds of an inning, allowing two runs on one hit with one base on balls. Freshman Bobby Uthe of Ames, who suffered the loss, allowed two runs on two hits and was not credited with any innings pitched and sophomore Max Martin of Franklin, Wis., walked the only batter he faced. Sophomore Kaleb Gengler of Sioux City pitched two-thirds of an inning and walked one batter and sophomore Jacob Sjuts of Humphrey, Neb., went two-thirds of an inning, retiring the only two batters he faced.

The DMACC baseball team will face Butler County Community College (BCCC) in a four-game series March 1 and 2 at El Dorado, Kan.