Dakota Wesleyan softball team ties program record with 17 wins after doubleheader split
With a new head coach and a team projected to finish last in the conference, the Dakota Wesleyan University softball team tied a program record in wins Tuesday night.By: Kevin Pottebaum, The Daily Republic
- Anderus
With a new head coach and a team projected to finish last in the conference, the Dakota Wesleyan University softball team tied a program record in wins Tuesday night.
The Tigers split a Great Plains Athletic Conference doubleheader against Dordt at Dr. McWhirter Field in Mitchell. Dordt spoiled the Tigers’ hopes to hit the mark in game one, taking a 4-0 victory. Dakota Wesleyan would not allow the Defenders to take two on senior night. DWU won game two 3-1 to improve to 17-24 and 10-6 in the GPAC.
“I think everybody knew that we were going to win that game,” DWU head coach Ed Kieff said. “It was really an emotional night.”
Kieff joined the Tigers this year with plenty of coaching experience, and DWU Athletic Director Curt Hart was confident the softball program was in good hands.
“I saw Ed’s intensity right away,” Hart said. “We felt lucky getting him hired and knew he was going to be a good hire for us. Nobody’s going to take Dakota Wesleyan for granted in softball anymore.”
Hart said he was surprised how quickly the program seems to be improving and believes the team will continue to succeed.
“He’s got a really good recruiting class coming in,” Hart said. “He’s going to build that program up pretty fast.”
As for this season, Kieff said his team still has expectations to be filled.
“As far as the wins, I haven’t look that close,” he said. “Our goal is to make it to the conference tournament and win that. The players expect to win.”
In Tuesday night’s win, Roni Nekrassoff picked up the win after pitching a complete game. She allowed one unearned run on seven hits and one walk. She struck out five Dordt hitters.
The Tigers scored one in each of the first three innings, which Kieff said was very important after getting shut out in the opener.
“It was a big deal to score early,” he said. “We needed that to kick start us.”
Nicole Haley was the only Tigers hitter with multiple hits in the nightcap. She went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Haley also had two hits in the first game.
Brandi Nekrassoff took the loss in game one. She allowed four runs on six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
Dakota Wesleyan’s next contest is against Concordia in a GPAC doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Seward, Neb.
Tags: sports, updates, dwu, tigers, softball
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