MITCHELL, S.D. — Dakota Wesleyan Softball hosted Hastings for the 2026 home opener, which saw the Tigers and Broncos battle in a conference doubleheader at Dr. McWhirter Field.
The Tigers were led in the first game on the mound by Mandalyn Nachtigall, who continues to deliver impressive performances for the softball team. In her full-game outing, she tallied six strikeouts against 37 faced batters and tossed a total of 131 pitches, serving as the team's anchor, while the stout defense backed her up the entire game. Runs would be at a premium during both contests, as both the Tigers and Broncos played elite defense throughout the contest, including impressive diving catches and quick reactions from Macy Moore in left field and Liliana Arreola at the shortstop position. Offensively, neither team got on the board until the bottom of the fourth, when Ashlen Johnson crushed a pitch to center field over the fence for her fourth home run of the season, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead that held for the next two full frames. Alessandra Ciurca tallied three hits on five at-bats for the Tigers to aid the offensive effort, along with two from both Moore and Avery Perkins. However, the Tigers were still held without another run until extra innings, as Hastings was able to tie the contest up with an RBI single in the top of the seventh. Both teams would enter into extras without any tallied runs, with both starting pitchers going the distance, and it wouldn't be until the 10th, with runners starting on second base, that both teams would find more runs. Hastings struck first with another RBI single, but a crucial response from Kassidy Lopez tied things back up at 2-2 in the bottom of the frame, before Moore walked it off with a knock into left, giving the Tigers the 3-2 victory.
Dakota Wesleyan would get to work quickly in the second game with recorded runs in both the bottom of the first and second, as Ciurca would take advantage of a passed ball before Jordyn Blogg tallied an RBI on a bunt, bringing home pinch runner Deanna Davidson, giving DWU a 2-0 lead. The Hastings defense would settle in and slow the Tigers down through the middle portion of the contest; however, they would take advantage of the third and fifth innings to put runs on the board and tie the contest up, 2-2. The score would remain for the rest of regulation, with Alison Ernsberger and the Tiger defense shutting out the Broncos with 12 strikeouts in eight innings pitched, continuing to have impressive command in the strike zone. Perkins recorded two more hits, along with two from Blogg, but the sixth and seventh innings ultimately ended without any extra scores. The defense would shut down Hastings' final offensive effort before Arreola gave Dakota Wesleyan the second walkoff of the day with a single through the middle of the infield to get Ciurca across home plate, earning a 3-2 win for DWU. The Tigers move to 20-11 on the season, and 3-1 in GPAC play.
DWU Softball will be back in action against the College of Saint Mary (Neb.) on Friday, March 27th, down in Omaha. See the full 2026 schedule here.