Blue Hawks drop four in Kansas City to open season

Kansas City, Kan. – Dickinson State went 0-4 in Kansas City to kick off their first weekend of the spring. The Blue Hawks fell 2-1 to Dakota Wesleyan, and 7-1 to Missouri Valley, on Saturday before falling 14-12 to MVU and 16-3 to Graceland (IA) on Sunday.

Game One – DWU 2 DSU 1

Dickinson State dropped a pitcher's dual with Dakota Wesleyan in their first game of the 2024 spring season.

Starting pitcher Trent Richter went five innings allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits, with three strikeouts and one walk to earn the tough luck loss. Jacob Scully threw one perfect inning in relief for DSU.

The Blue Hawks were trailing 2-0 in the sixth inning before Keanu Calamayan singled with two outs to bring in pinch runner Luke Clinton and make it 2-1. Clay Prell followed with a double to put the tying and go-ahead runs on second and third, but DWU got Alex Stephens to ground out to end the threat.

Game Two – MVU 7 DSU 1

Dickinson State was held to just one run on five hits as they fell, 7-1, to Missouri Valley on game two Saturday.

MVU took a 5-0 lead in the first three innings of the game and held the Blue Hawk offense at bay the entire afternoon to earn the victory. John-Michael Gonzalez Jr. and Cole Siembab both doubled for the Blue Hawks, but DSU could not push a run across until there were two outs in the seventh inning despite striking out just three times and MVU committing three errors.

Jonathan Lerma, Tate Williams, Trevor Ball, and Trent Chavez combined to throw seven innings allowing 7 runs (4 earned), on 12 hits with three walks and five strike outs.

Game Three – MVU 14 DSU 12

Dickinson State and Missouri Valley opened up Sunday with a game that was about the polar opposite of game two on Saturday, with the teams combining for 26 runs on 31 hits as MVU edged out DSU, 14-12.

Missouri Valley jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the first three pitches of the game, but a two-run home run by Lane Neill in the bottom of the first inning tied the game at 2-2.

MVU responded with 8 unanswered runs over the next two innings to take a commanding 10-2 lead heading into the fourth inning.

Anthony Hanson worked a scoreless fourth for DSU and the offense got to work in the bottom half. Alex Stephens led off the inning with a walk, and courtesy runner Nathaniel Jilek promptly stole second base. An infield hit by Gonzalez Jr. put runners at the corners with nobody out, and a walk to Alberto Nieto loaded the bases. Wyatt Wilharm followed with a towering grand slam to right-center field to put DSU right back in the game, 10-6.

Logan Smith made his Blue Hawk debut in the fifth inning and used a double play to help send MVU down in order to keep the game 10-6.

Clay Prell added a one-out home run in the fifth, and Nieto drove in a run with a base hit bunt with one out, but that was all the Blue Hawks would get, making it 10-8.

Missouri Valley answered in a big way in the sixth, getting a grand slam of their own to stretch the lead back to six, 14-8, before holding DSU scoreless in the bottom half of the inning.

After a scoreless top of the seventh, Dickinson State tried to mount a comeback, as Stephens led off with a single and Jilek again stole second, his third of the game, and DSU had runners on the corners after Gonzalez Jr. walked and Jilek advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Nieto followed with an RBI single to left field, but Wilharm flew out to center for the first out of the inning. Carlos Molina Jr. hammered a one-out double to right center field scoring both Nieto and Gonzalez Jr. to make it 14-11, and Siembab singled to left to again give DSU runners on the corners and bring the tying run to the plate. MVU then got Neill to strike out, before Keanu Calamayan hit a high fly ball to left field that was misplayed with two outs. Molina Jr. scored on the play, but Siembab was thrown out at the plate trying to score to end the game, 14-12.

Game Four – GU 16 DSU 3

Dickinson State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a Kaiden Reeve two-run home run to left field, but Graceland answered back with five unanswered runs across the second and third innings to take a 5-2 lead.

A sacrifice fly by Molina Jr. scored Gonzalez Jr. in the top of the fourth to make it 5-3, but the Graceland offense caught fire from that point on, scoring 11 unanswered runs, including nine in the fifth inning, to cruise to the victory.

Alex Stephens provided 1.2 innings of solid relief, allowing 1 run on one hit while walking one and striking out three to end the game.