Waldorf cruises past Winnipeg, sweeps NSAA doubleheader
By Aaron Schneider
FOREST CITY – The Waldorf University baseball team swept the University of Winnipeg during Sunday’s North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) doubleheader.
Waldorf (12-22, 8-4) rolled to 15-5 victory in eight innings during the opener and cruised to a 19-8 win in the second contest to secure victory in the four-game series.
“We needed to come out ready to play and get up on them right away,” Waldorf coach Joe Tautges said. “We knew they didn’t have a lot of pitching in their bullpen. That was a big reason to get to their bullpen right away and we did a good job of that in both games.”
Freshman Mitchell Keeran paced the Warriors in the opener with a 4-for-6 performance and an RBI single. Junior Michael Keeran went 2-for-5 with a triple and freshman Garrett Gillen delivered a pair of singles. The Warriors received singles from juniors Bruce Mau, Ryan Villarreal, sophomore Jacob Tedesco, freshmen Tim Pasiuk and Jimmy Quirk.
“It was good to see us swinging the bats,” Tautges said. “Our guys had a good approach at the plate. We had some good at-bats, and we put some pressure on them early.”
Winnipeg’s Drake Pilat went 3-for-4 with a double and drove in a run. Christian Peters and Marc Lepore doubled while collecting two hits apiece for the Wesmen (6-28, 3-9).
Michael Keeran (3-3) earned the win. He fanned six batters, walked six and yielded four runs (two earned) on seven hits in six innings.
Waldorf junior Tony Manna relieved for two innings, striking out two batters and giving up an unearned run on three hits.
Ben Judt was handed the loss. He struck out two batters, walked five and allowed six runs on five hits in one and two-thirds innings.
Winnipeg’s Matthew Schneider tossed five innings of relief. He punched out four batters and allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits. Austin Smith surrendered five runs (one earned) on five hits in two-thirds of an inning.
The Warriors capitalized on the Wesmen’s mistakes, which included five errors, 11 free passes and three wild pitches. Winnipeg allowed five unearned runs.
“They absolutely helped us out by walking a few guys and making some big errors,” Tautges said. “They made five errors, and we scored on most of those.”
The Warriors jumped out early as they scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore Eric Mallo drew a bases-loaded walk. Mau and Mitchell Keeran connected for RBI singles. Pasiuk was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Tedesco and Quirk followed with back-to-back bases-loaded walks.
Pilat singled in a run during the top of the fifth. The Wesmen added another run when Curtis de Pena drew a bases-loaded walk to cut Waldorf’s lead to a 6-2.
Mau drove in a run during the fifth on a fielder’s choice to give the Warriors a five-run advantage.
Pilat and Lepore crossed home plate in the sixth following a pair of dropped fly balls.
Tedesco knocked in a run with a sixth-inning groundout to push the Warriors to an 8-4 lead.
Mau scored in the seventh on a wild pitch. Michael Keeran boosted Waldorf to a six-run advantage, coming home before the Winnipeg converted an inning-ending pickoff.
De Pena provided an eighth-inning RBI single to pull the Wesmen within five runs.
Gillen singled in a run to spark Waldorf’s five-run eighth inning and later crossed home plate as the result of an error. Mau brought home sophomore Jordan Jewell on a sacrifice fly. Pasiuk ripped a two-run single to bring the game to an end on account of the mercy rule.
The Warriors pounded out 20 hits in Game 2.
“It’s really good to see,” Tautges said. “We’ve hit the ball well all year long. Fortunately, we hit the ball all over the place and did a good job of getting guys in.”
Mau powered to a 4-for-5 performance with two doubles and three RBIs. Quirk produced a double and three RBIs, going 3-for-4 at the plate. Villarreal went 3-for-4 with an RBI double. Michael Keeran ripped a two-run triple while finishing 2-for-2. Junior Kellan Mick, Tedesco and Mitchell Keeran added two hits apiece, Mallo provided an RBI double and Gillen contributed a run-scoring single.
Winnipeg’s Colton Carlow went 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs. Lepore blasted a two-run home run, going 2-for-4 at the plate. De Pena went 2-for-3 with an RBI single.
Mau (1-4) notched the win. He notched five strikeouts, issued three walks and allowed five runs (one earned) on five hits in four innings of work.
“Both of our starting pitchers gave us great starts,” Tautges said. “One of the things we need to do a better job of is challenging hitters, especially when we have big leads, but we got great pitching [on Sunday].”
Waldorf junior Dean Mick yielded three runs on four hits in a one-inning relief appearance. Senior Trevor Bauer pitched two scoreless innings as he tallied three strikeouts, a walk and gave up two hits.
Brendyn Perron was tagged with the loss. He struck out a batter, walked three and yielded six runs on six hits in two innings. Alain Andre fanned four batters, issued three walks and relinquished 10 runs on 10 hits in two innings of relief.
Tyler Moskalyk and Alex Whiteside each pitched an inning of relief for the Wesmen.
Michael Keeran put the Warriors on the board in the bottom of the first after crushing a two-run triple. Tedesco singled in another run to give Waldorf a 3-0 lead.
The Warriors built a six-run lead in the second as Mau connected for an RBI single, and Quirk ripped a two-run double.
Pilat drove in a run following a third-inning fielder’s choice.
Mau belted a third-inning two-run double to extend Waldorf’s lead to 8-1.
Carlow cracked a two-run single in the fourth. Lepore went yard with a two-run homer to put the Wesmen within three runs.
Kellan Mick and Gillen each delivered RBI singles in the fourth to extend Waldorf’s lead to 10-5.
De Pena connected on a fifth-inning RBI single. Carlow ripped a two-run single to narrow Winnipeg’s deficit to two runs.
The Warriors strung together seven runs in the fifth. Mitchell Keeran produced an RBI single while Mau scored on an error during the same play. Quirk and Tedesco belted RBI singles. The Warriors gained a 15-8 advantage when Quirk scored on a double-play ball. Villarreal and Mallo notched RBI doubles to as Waldorf pulled ahead to a nine-run lead.
Kellan Mick drove in a run on a sixth-inning single. Quirk crossed home plate later in the inning following an error.
Waldorf takes on Clarke University (21-9) on Tuesday in a 2 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at Peosta. The Crusaders powered to 12-1 and 8-0 victories over the Warriors on April 6 at Forest City.
“Hopefully, we can get some revenge on them,” Tautges said. “They kind of took it to us the last time we played them. Hopefully, we can get some wins there and keep our winning streak going.”
The Warriors currently hold third place in the NSAA standings. They continue conference play next weekend when they host Presentation College (13-27, 3-9) in a four-game series.
“We’re happy with where we’re at in the conference standings and hopefully we can keep that going next weekend against Presentation,” Tautges said.