May 1—DICKINSON STATE — A pair of lopsided games — that more-resembled football scores — broke out on the diamond at Dakota Community Bank and Trust Ballpark on Saturday as Dickinson State University dominated visiting Presentation in a baseball doubleheader by a combined score of 39-8. The Blue Hawks defeated the winless Saints 19-2 in the opener and followed that up with a 20-6 thumping in the second half of the twin-bill.

The American flag at Astoria Field is quite large and heavy, so when it's blowing out to straight-away center-field facing south you know some hardballs are getting ready to fly beyond the outfield fences. And fly out they did, to the tune of 10 collected home runs on the day for DSU and a grand total of 44 hits. Between the two games, the Blue Hawks batted around three times and were held scoreless in only 3 innings all day.

"The goal was just to get ourselves going, trying to build momentum," DSU manager Mike Dahl said. "So, obviously, offensively we got things going."

But it also was a stiff defensive presence that buoyed the Blue Hawks through the first half of the series — games three and four will be played today, April 30, 2023 — as they held the Saints to only four batters or less in 10 different innings when a DSU pitcher was on the mound.