• Sophomores Dillon Kuehl and Camden Kaufman homer in 7-4 loss on March 20
• Sophomore Cael Boever hits a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Bears a 13-10 win in the opener on March 30
• Sophomore Chance Key improves to 4-0 with the win in the second game

The DMACC baseball team improved to 16-13 overall and 4-5 in the ICCAC after taking two of three games against North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) March 29 and 30 at the DMACC baseball diamond.

NIACC won a single game on March 29, 7-4, and DMACC took both ends of a doubleheader on March 30, 13-10 and 7-0.

NIACC scored two runs in the first, two in the third and three in the fifth to come away with the win on March 29. DMACC was limited to just four hits in the game and scored all of its runs on home runs by sophomores Dillon Kuehl of Urbandale and Camden Kaufman of Waukee. Kuehl hit a two-run homer in the first and Kaufman's two-run blast came in the fifth. Sophomore Cael Boever of Sioux City singled and scored ahead of Kuehl in the first and was hit by a pitch and scored in front of Kaufman in the fifth. Kuehl also singled to account for two of the Bears' four hits.

Sophomore Ty Madison of Omaha, Neb., pitched the first five innings and fell to 4-2 with the loss. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits, struck out three and walked one. Sophomore Thomas King of West Des Moines threw two-thirds of an inning, recording one strikeout and two walks and sophomore Eli Lehrman of Anamosa went an inning and a third. He gave up two hits, struck out three and walked one.

DMACC came from behind to win the opener on March 30 with the winning runs coming on a three-run home run by Boever in the bottom of the ninth. The Bears trailed 2-0 after three innings, tied it with two runs in the fourth and took a 4-2 lead with two runs in the fifth. NIACC answered with an eight-run sixth inning to go ahead 10-6, before DMACC rallied with two runs in the eighth and three in the ninth to get the win.

Kaufman paced the Bears at the plate with three hits, including a pair of home runs, and three RBIs. Kuehl and sophomore Jaylen Ziegler of Urbandale has two hits apiece and Ziegler drove in five runs.

Ziegler doubled home two runs in the fourth, drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and had a two-run single in the seventh. Kuehl and Kaufman hit back-to-back solo home runs in the fifth, Kaufman hit a two-run homer in the eighth to tie the game at 10-10 and Boever got the Bears the win in the bottom of the ninth. His home run came after sophomore Noah Thein of Dewitt and Driscoll were hit by pitches to set the stage for Boever. Freshman Carter Bryan of Johnston pinch ran for Thein and scored ahead of Driscoll and Boever.

Sophomore J.C. Dermody of Council Bluffs started on the mound for the Bears and went five innings, allowing five runs on three hits with 12 strikeouts. Sophomore Kaleb Gengler of Sioux City allowed one run on one hit and was not credited with any innings pitched and sophomore Jai Jensen of Clinton gave up one run and walked one batter and was not credited with any innings pitched. Sophomore Jake Porter of Winterset went two-thirds of an inning, allowing three runs on two hits with two walks and freshman Konner Entz of West Fargo, N.D., pitched two and a third innings, giving up one hit and striking out one batter. Sophomore Max Martin of Franklin, Wis., leveled his record at 1-1 with the win. He pitched one inning, allowing one hit and striking out three batters.

Sophomore Chance Key of Waverly ran his record to 4-0 behind a six-hitter as the Bears took the second game on March 30, 7-0. Key went seven innings, striking out 10 and walking two. Freshman Brennan Haman of West Fargo, N.D., worked two innings, allowing two hits, striking out three and walking one.

The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the first when Boever reached on an error and scored on a double by Kuehl. Sophomore Maddox Johnston of Chanhassen, Minn., and Boever hit run-scoring singles in the second and another run scored on a fielder's choice as the Bears went up 4-0. They closed it out with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Kaufman doubled and scored on a passed ball and sophomore Cory Bantam of Woodbine walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by Thein. Freshman Jackson Manning of Keosauqua scored the final run when he singled and moved to second on a walk, stole third and scored on Ziegler's fielder's choice.

Kaufman and Manning paced DMACC's seven-hit attack with two hits apiece and Manning drove in two runs.

The DMACC baseball team will face Northeast (Neb.) Community College (NECC) in a doubleheader April 4 at the DMACC baseball diamond. NECC is 20-13 overall and 7-3 in the ICCAC.