Dixie State’s spring sports — baseball and softball ini particular — continue to dominate opponents and lead the Pacific West Conference. Here’s a recap of Friday’s action:
BASEBALL
In Fresno, No. 17 Dixie State needed individuals to step up on during Friday’s Pacific West Conference doubleheader at Fresno Pacific. Two Storm players did – senior pitcher John Conquy and senior infielder Kevin Kline.
Conquy threw a seven-inning no-hitter as the Storm swept the twinbill with a 1-0 win in the nightcap. Kline’s heroics including the game tying hit in the ninth inning and a two-run blast in the 13th inning to push DSU to a 7-5 win in Friday’s first game.
Conquy’s hitless night was the first for a Dixie State pitcher in the school’s Division II era (since 2006). He faced only two batters over the minimum while striking out four, including fanning the side in the sixth inning. Conquy improved to 4-0 on the year. The last Dixie State no-hitter came in 2005 when Nick Walters did the feat twice against Colorado Northwest Community College.
In the nightcap, one run in the fourth inning for Dixie State was enough offense. Cam Gust led off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a Yuto Kata sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch from FPU starter Jake Martinez allowed Gust to score the go-ahead run.
Earlier in the day, Kline had been hitless until the ninth, finishing 2-for-6. Tanner Morache led the Storm from the leadoff spot going 3-for-4 for three runs scored. Drew McLaughlin (Scottsdale, AZ/Desert Mountain), Donald Glover and Hayes Hall, all had two hits in Friday’s first game.
Jeremy Alderman picked up the win in relief (2-0) of starter Porter Clayton. Alderman pitched five innings and allowed two hits while striking out five. Evan Parker retired the side in order for his seventh save of the season.
Dixie State improves to 23-8 on the season and 18-1 in the PacWest while Fresno Pacific fell to 20-13, 8-11.
DSU and the Sunbirds close out the series with a 11 a.m. Pacific first pitch on Saturday.
SOFTBALL
In Riverside, Calif., Michelle Duncan continued to dominate the circle with her 18th win of the season to start the doubleheader sweep of No. 19 Cal Baptist on Friday night. The No. 4 Red Storm softball team won game one 6-0 and game two 3-1.
Aryn Feickert pitched Dixie State (33-6, 22-0) to victory in game two behind a complete game with seven strikeouts, allowing five hits and one earned run. Duncan’s shutout was a one-hitter with a season-best nine strikeouts to move the DSU ace to 18-0 on the season
Janessa Bassett went 3 for 4 in game one and scored two runs while adding a double and one run in game two. Courtney Hine went 2 for 3 with two RBI, a run scored and a walk in game one and added another double and an RBI in the second game. Nicole Chavez went 2 for 4 with a double, a run scored and one RBI in game two.
GAME 1 RECAP
Hine bashed her first homerun of the season with Bassett on base for a 2-0 lead in the first. Bassett singled in the second to drive in Marla Reiter and Josey Hartman for a 4-0 advantage heading into the bottom half of the second.
Duncan ran into some trouble in the second after back-to-back walks loaded the bases with two outs. She got a groundout to escape and keep the four-run lead.
In the fifth, Dixie State added a run when Hine reached on an error and Bassett came around to score.
Reiter singled to leadoff the sixth and Courtney Sherwin doubled to put runners at second and third. A squeeze bunt from Hartman scored pinch-runner Bailee Freeland to make it 6-0.
Duncan got three quick outs in the seventh including her eighth and ninth strikeouts for a season high to seal the victory.
GAME 2 RECAP
Cal Baptist struck first in game two with an RBI single off Feickert in the first inning. DSU answered quickly with a run in each of the first two innings to go back in front 2-1 after and RBI double from Hine in the second.
Both teams were quiet until Bassett got on base in the fifth. Chavez singled up the middle to score Bassett and up the lead to 3-1.
DSU held on to win game two and take both games in the doubleheader.
Dixie State will play Cal Baptist in another doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. MT/12 noon PT.
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