Mitchell, South Dakota — In a game that took extras to decide, Dakota Wesleyan’s Nora Nelson hit a pinch-hit single to walk it off in the 10th, settling the score at 1-0.
The bats were quiet throughout the game, although Dordt did leave two runners on in the third on two hits from Ella Koster and Jessica Oules to fill second and first.
The Defenders also had runners in scoring position in the top of the 4th and in the 6th, but were unable to bring them in from second.
Abby Kraemer worked out of trouble in the home half of the 7th when the Tigers opened the inning with a pair of singles. After a runner was picked off at third, Kraemer punched out the final hitter on strikes to send the game to extras.
In the 10th, with the international tiebreaker runner placed on second, Dakota Wesleyan advanced Jaden Warner to third before Nora Nelson singled up the middle to end the game in extras.
Abby Kraemer struck out eight batters in 9.1 innings pitched
The Defenders saw five different players come up with hits
Dordt did not commit any errors
Tava Boone had 10 strikeouts for Dakota Wesleyan in 10.0 innings
The Dordt Defenders were the recipients of a come-from-behind win for Dakota Wesleyan in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader, as the Tigers used a walk off home run in the 7th to secure the sweep.
Dordt got out to an early advantage in the 3rd when Karli Olsen hit an RBI double with Jessica Oules on second to take a 1-0 lead. The Defenders extended their lead later in the inning when Brooklyn Van Oort cleared the bases with runners at the corners.
With a 3-0 Dordt lead in the 6th, Hailey Wilken hit a leadoff single and later came around to score on Chandler Schemper’s two-out RBI single, extending the Defender lead to four runs.
Dakota Wesleyan put their first runs on the board in the bottom half of the 6th when Tianna Boone hit a two-run homer to cut the Dordt lead in half. In the bottom of the 7th, the Tigers caught two-out lightning when Nora Nelson hit an RBI single to make the score 4-3. Then, in the next at-bat, Tianna Boone hit her second home run of the game, a two-run walk-off winner to bring the regular season to a close.
Karli Olsen, Chandler Schemper, and Emma Groen each collected two hits
Brooklyn Van Oort finished with two RBI
Chandler Schemper and Karli Olsen both had an RBI
Taylor Knaack pitched 4.0 innings, not allowing any runs
The Defenders will await their first round opponent for the GPAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 4. Dordt is locked into the 5th seed, which will send them to Fremont, Nebraska against an opponent to be determined.
