YORK, Neb. — Dakota Wesleyan Baseball traveled to Nebraska to take on the out-of-conference York Panthers in a three-game series.
The first game of the series was a nine-inning affair that saw Dakota Wesleyan take an initial 3-0 advantage following a string of solid hitting from Caleb Meyers, Joseph Tharaldson, and a precise knock from Diego Jirau on a fielder's choice. On the mound, Alex Mizsak was able to record his second win of the season following a six-inning start that saw him tally four strikeouts against 26 faced batters. He was further aided on the offensive end by Dexter Payne, who would grab an RBI single in the top of the sixth to send home Landon Ruesink, extending DWU's lead to 4-1, before York was able to put up two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, bringing the score back to 4-3. The final third of the contest would be all Tigers, however, as DWU scored six unanswered runs to close the contest, taking the game-one victory, 10-3. Lane Darrow added an RBI down the stretch while C. Meyers and Tharaldson further added to their contributions in the ninth. Dakota Munger would make the appearance in relief, recording a save following a four-strikeout performance of his own while giving up zero earned runs.
Friday's doubleheader saw the series conclude in back-to-back seven-inning contests. The first of the two would see a dominant performance on the mound from Payne, who also maintained his spot in the batting order, alongside recording seven consecutive strikeouts to begin his start, giving the Tigers a massive advantage early. Kelbee Woodham was able to get a ball hit just in the right spot to force a York fielding error to bring the first run across home plate before a single from Mason Riley would extend DWU's lead to 2-0 in the top of the third. Payne continued to dish, tallying 11 strikeouts in total, and pitching a complete-game shutout through 26 batters faced and 100 total pitches on the dot, earning him his second win of the season. Woodham was able to put an exclamation point on the game with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth, extending the lead to 4-0, which would remain for the rest of the game. Solid defense on both ends kept the back half of the game scoreless, ultimately favoring DWU to win the second contest of the series.
The final game of the roadtrip saw C. Meyers took the mound, where he would record four strikeouts in three innings pitched before relief would come from the bullpen. His initial efforts kept the Panthers scoreless early while the DWU offense continued to dominate, with Caleb also grabbing the first run of the day after a ground-rule double would see Ruesink cross home plate in the top of the third. Payne continued his impressive day with a double of his own, resulting in another run, while Talan Ball recorded the first of his two triples to tally two RBIs in the process, pushing the score to 4-0 in favor of the Tigers. York would add a run in the bottom of the frame, but an RBI-single from Darrow and Ball's second triple of the day extended DWU's lead to 6-1 midway through the fifth. York was able to put up two more runs, but Riley and Kyler Adams added two more runs to the board in the sixth and seventh innings to put the contest out of reach, ending 8-3 for the Tigers. Brayden Cherrey recorded two strikeouts in relief, Broc Berry earned the win after four strikeouts in 1.2 innings pitched, and Nathaniel Huisken ended the series with a scoreless seventh inning. With the three wins, the Tigers move to 9-2 to start the season, marking head coach Charlie Dubanoski's best start at Dakota Wesleyan to date.
DWU Baseball will be back in action next week at the Tucson Invitational Games starting on Thursday, March 5th. See the full 2026 schedule here.