PAPILLION, Neb. — Dakota Wesleyan Baseball opened the 2026 GPAC slate of play on the road against Northwestern in a doubleheader matchup down at Papillion La Vista South High School.
The first game of the doubleheader was a seven-inning contest that saw the Red Raiders gain the upper hand initially, with a solo-shot homer giving the opposition a 1-0 lead that held for the first two innings. The Tigers were able to strike back following a groundout RBI from Mason Riley that sent Landon Ruesink across home plate, tying the game up at 1-1. The bottom of the third saw an immediate response from Northwestern, however, with a three-RBI home run, and a follow-up solo shot in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead over Dakota Wesleyan. DWU found a full offensive momentum swing in the form of an initial RBI-double in the top of the fifth to get Lane Darrow across home plate before Dexter Payne recorded a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 5-3. The Tigers were able to take back the lead following a grand slam from Caleb Meyers in the top of the sixth, following singles from Talan Ball, Carter Brown, and an advantageous hit-by-pitch that got Landon Ruesink on base, bringing the score to 7-5 in favor of DWU. On the mound, Alex Mizsak recorded the start, going five innings and recording five strikeouts against 26 faced batters, while Dakota Munger pitched two innings of relief to earn the save after only giving up one earned run, helping shut the Red Raiders out of the contest down the stretch. NWC hit a final homer in the bottom of the seventh, but the Tigers were able to hold on to the 7-6 victory to open conference play.
The second contest saw the teams play a full nine innings as the Tigers carried their offensive momentum over from the first game, as Kelbee Woodham got DWU on the board in the top of the first with an RBI-double. Riley extended the lead to 2-0 following a home run, but the Red Raiders got to work offensively in the following frames, putting up seven runs in the bottom of the third to flip the contest 7-2 in their favor. Riley continued his impressive day with a two-RBI double that got C. Meyers and Ruesink across home plate, but it would be the last of DWU's scoring in the game, with Northwestern eventually extending the score to 10-4. On the mound, Broc Berry recorded a strikeout in 2.2 innings pitched, followed up by four strikeouts from Brayden Cherrey in 2.1 innings, before Payne closed out the rotation on the mound with two strikeouts, only one hit given up, and zero earned runs through 2.0 innings. The doubleheader split moves DWU to 10-8 overall and 1-1 to begin GPAC competition.
DWU Baseball has cancelled its Tuesday doubleheader against Bismarck State, so the team will be back in action on the road at Hastings on Friday, March 20th, starting at 12:00 PM. See the full 2026 schedule here.