Jimmies keep GPAC tourney run going with win over Doane

Maxwell O'Neill, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·4 min read

May 9—CRETE, Nebraska — After they dug themselves a hole in the first, the No. 5-seeded University of Jamestown got out of it in a big way beating top seeded Doane University 13-6 on Monday, May 9, in Crete, Nebraska.

It didn't take long for the Tigers (37-12) to break through as Andy Thieler lined the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning down the right-field line for a double. The next hitter was Joe Osborn who singled up the middle to score Thieler and put the Tigers up 1-0.

Later in the frame, Lukas White lined a long single down the left-field line and moved to second on the throw, scoring Osborn and putting the Tigers up 2-0. Justin Nevells continued the hit parade with a run-scoring single to left field to score White and push the lead to 3-0.

During the bottom of the first, Jimmies head coach Tom Hager called his team together for a mound visit where he said he reminded his team that there was still a lot of the game left to be played.

The Jimmies (29-22) immediately responded in the top of the second as Luke Shekeryk sent a line drive over the left-field fence to cut the deficit to 3-1.

"I was seeing a lot of off-speed pitches down well and then I just got a pitch up in the zone I could handle," Shekeryk said.

The Jimmies showed their patience in the top of the third, working two walks and a hit by pitch to load the bases for Tayler Cullen. Cullen helped his team out with a bases-clearing double to put the Jimmies up 4-3.

"I think we had a pretty good game plan against their starter, he's awfully good," Hager said. "We executed the game plan, we were patient and yet still put the ball in play when we needed to. We made him throw a lot of pitches in the first three innings. So, I'm really proud with how we executed our offensive game plan."

The Tigers punched right back in the bottom half of the inning as Jack Tillman hit a bloop single to left to score Nevells and tie the game at four.

In the fifth, the Jimmies' Trent Peters hit a run-scoring single to score Xander Orejudos and put the Jimmies back out in front 5-4. Blake Arritola came in and pinch ran for Peters and immediately got into a rundown with Luke LaChance mishandling the throw, allowing Shekeryk to come home and push the Jimmies lead to 6-4. The Jimmies added another one in the inning on an Andrew Kupec bloop single to push the lead to 7-4.

The Tigers cut into the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Thieler hit a single to right to score Drew Norsen and make it a 7-5 game.

The Jimmies added on in the top of the sixth when Luke Shekeryk hit his second homer of the day over the left(HYPHEN)field fence for a three-run shot to push the Jimmies lead out to 10-5.

The Jimmies tacked on three more in the seventh when they loaded the bases once again for Shekeryk who hit a missile into the gap in right-center to clear the bases and push the Jimmies lead out to 13-5.

The Tigers made a dent in their deficit in the bottom of the eighth when Nevells lined a single just out of the reach of the third baseman Mckenzie to score Osborn and make it a 13-6 game.

The Jimmies now wait to see who they will face in the GPAC championship game on Wednesday, May 11.

UJ 13 , DU 6

UJ: 0 1 3 0 3 3 3 0 0 — 13 14 4

DU: 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 — 6 15 1

Scoring plays:

First inning:

DU: Joe Osborn RBI single, Andy Theiler scores

DU: Lukas White RBI single, Osborn scores

DU: Justin Nevells RBI single, White scores, unearned

Second inning:

UJ: Luke Shekeryk solo HR

Third inning:

UJ: Tayler Cullen 3 RBI double, Tanner Shepard, Isaiah Roebuck, Quade Peters score

DU: Jack Tillman RBI single, Nevells scores

Fifth inning:

UJ: Trent Peters RBI single, Xander Orejudos scores

UJ: Shekeryk scores on a throwing error by Drew Norsen, unearned

UJ: Andrew Kupec RBI single, Blake Arritola scores, unearned

DU: Theiler RBI single, Drew Norsen scores

Sixth inning:

UJ: Shekeryk 3 run HR, Shepard, Peters score

Seventh inning:

UJ: Shekeryk 3 RBI double, Shepard, Orejudos, Peters score

Eighth inning:

DU: Nevilles single, Osborn scores, unearned

WP: Ben Ray (3-0) LP: Jordan Wisner (6-3)