Dickinson State and Mayville split doubleheader at home
Oct. 3—DICKINSON — The cold and windy weather did not affect the hot bats coming from the Astoria Field in Dickinson as Dickinson State defended their home field against Mayville State University in a non-conference doubleheader. It would result in a split in a bittersweet ending for the Blue Hawks.
Game One: DSU 8, MSU 1
It was a one-sided affair, with DSU batter's showing consistency throughout the lineup in game one. The Blue Hawks took advantage of walks as Mayville State gave up seven in the game. Dickinson State would garner eight hits, with no errors, hitting a double and two homers in the victory.
Alberto Nieto scored the first dinger as the leadoff hitter in the second inning to make it 3-0. The Blue Hawk would go unanswered 6-0 until the top of the third.
Carson Lundmark, a familiar face for fans of the Badlands Big Sticks, was the lone Mayville State hitter to knock a long ball — which came at the top of the third.
Derrick Calvillo made a senior contribution for Dickinson State, earning the team's second home run in the fourth. The final run came by way of a sac fly by Robert Encinas, sending Dawson Cortese home. Encinas stepped into the batter's box with the base loaded, two runners being walked initially.
"Offensively we were very disciplined," Mike Dahl, DSU's head coach, said. "We were patient, but yet aggressive at certain times and the guys that were patient worked counts into walks."
Game Two: MSU 6, Dickinson State 3
In a role reversal from game one, game two would be clinched by Mayville State early. In the top of the second, DSU allowed four runs — three coming off the bat of a triple. In good news, the Blue Hawks had more hits than the Comets (9-7) and three batters secured hits by pitch, but only three runners would cross the plate leaving 10 stranded.
The second inning ended with the score 4-1, with the next run coming from a leadoff home run by Mayville in the fifth. They would also score from a single hit into the outfield in the inning.
DSU responded to the 6-1 deficit at the bottom of the fifth with two runs of their own; Encinas claimed his third RBI in the doubleheader while Cortese scored off a fielder's choice.
The doubleheader was the final game for the Blue Hawks fall season and though Dahl strived for a sweep, he recognized the growth and future potential his team will have in the spring.
"We had our opportunities, and chances, but we made some mental and physical mistakes," Dahl said." I think talent wise, I think we can compete with almost anybody. It's just can we mentally prepare for that and mentally make adjustments during the game... because it is not always all physical."
