Jimmies Roundup: Baseball wins two, men's soccer falls in GPAC quarterfinal

Michael Savaloja, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·6 min read

Apr. 11—The University of Jamestown baseball team opened a four-game weekend series against visiting Dakota Wesleyan University with a pair of Great Plains Athletic Conference wins at Jack Brown Stadium on Saturday.

Jamestown's batting order was difficult for the Tigers to maneuver, as the Jimmies collected 31 hits and drove six balls out of the park in defeating Dakota Wesleyan 10-5 in seven innings and 12-6 in nine.

The Jimmies (23-12, 9-5 GPAC) and the Tigers (10-15, 4-10) resume play Sunday at noon.

Jimmies 10, Tigers 5

Jamestown dug out of an early 3-1 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the second. Tayler Cullen clubbed an RBI double in the frame, while catcher Dirk Eymundson poked a two-run homer over the wall in right.

The Tigers tied the game at 5-5 in the top of third before the Jimmies broke the game open with five runs in the bottom half. Luke Shekeryk belted his 10th home run of the season — a solo shot to right leading off — Cullen ripped a two-run single to left and Brain Rice came through with a two-run double as the Jimmies banged out six hits and sent nine batters to the plate.

Rice finished batting 4-for-4, while Cullen (three RBIs), Dudley, Eymundson and Matt Meraz all ended with a pair of hits in UJ's 16-hit attack.

The sharp UJ offense offset an uncharacteristic start from Dru Fitz, who earned the win after allowing five earned runs on seven hits through four. Reliever Cameron Jenkins, however, pitched lights out over the final three frames to collect the save, giving up just a single hit and striking out a pair.

Jimmies 12, Tigers 6

Jamestown's bats stayed hot in game 2.

The Jimmies knocked 12 more hits into play, including four home runs. Shekeryk (4-for-4) hit dingers No. 2 and No. 3 on the day, pushing his season total to 12, with solo shots in the third inning and the eighth.

UJ's Kendall Yackley and Lincoln Trujillo joined the party with two-run shots in the fourth and fifth, respectively. The Jimmies led 10-4 after five innings.

UJ reliever Andy Reed was credited with the win after taking over for starter Kensaku Akiya in the fourth. Akiya went 3 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits. Reed tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames.

Rice (2-for-4) collected two more hits, pushing his total on the day to six knocks, while Cullen batted 3-for-4 with a double and a run driven in.

Jimmies fall to Broncos

The University of Jamestown men's soccer team had their season come to an end Saturday, losing 2-1 to No. 23 Hastings College in the quarterfinals of the GPAC postseason tournament in Hastings, Nebraska.

Jamestown finishes the season 8-10 overall and 5-6 in the GPAC.

Hastings led 1-0 at the half on a goal by Tyler Mase in the 39th minute, then made it 2-0 after David Panter's 85th-minute goal.

Despite being down to nine players after a red card in the 73rd minute and another in the 88th, the Jimmies continued to press forward and got on the board in the 88th with a goal by junior Diego Valle. Unfortunately, that would be the last chance UJ had on goal, and the Broncos were able to close out the match.

Hastings had a 17-5 advantage in shots but had just a slight 3-1 edge in shots on target. Alex Hamer had one save in goal for UJ.

GPAC Baseball

University of Jamestown 10, Dakota Wesleyan 5

DW 212 000 0 — 5 8 3

UJ 145 000 X — 10 16 2

Batteries: D, Ethan Davis, Jacob Glovich (3) and Cole Hellie. J, Dru Fitz, Cameron Jenkins (5) and Dirk Eymundson. W-Fitz. L-Glovich. S-Jenkins.

Highlights: J, Fitz 4 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO; Jenkins 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO; Brian Rice 4-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R; Luke Shekeryk 1-4, HR, RBI; Dylan Dudley 2-4, RBI, R; Matt Meraz 2-3, 2 R; Tayler Cullen 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI; Dirk Eymundson 2-3, HR, 2 RBI.

D, Davis 2 2/3 IP, 13 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO; Glovich 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO; Cameron Quigley 2-4, 2B, 2 R; Drew DeMers 3-4, RBI, 2 R; Luke Lemay 1-3, HR, RBI.

Records: Jamestown 22-12, 8-5 GPAC. Dakota Wesleyan 10-14, 4-9.

University of Jamestown 12, Dakota Wesleyan 6

DW 100 300 200 — 6 13 2

UJ 121 240 11X — 12 15 2

Batteries: D, Patrick Starr, Brad Dean (5), Try Wilhelm (8), Rick Strubel (8) and Wyatt Hunt. J, Kensaku Akiya, Andy Reed (4), Austin Pesicka (6), Trey Evans (7), Logan O'Neil (9), Aaron Pugh (9) and Dirk Eymundson, Connor Morman (9). W-Reed. L-Starr

Highlights: E, Starr 4 1/3 IP, 12 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO; Drew DeMers 2-5, Tyler Torres 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI.

UJ, Akiya 3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO; Reed 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO; Pesicka 2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB; Evans 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO; O'Neil 0 IP, 2 H; Pugh 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 SO; Luke Shekeryk 4-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R; Lincoln Trujill 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Knedall Yackley 1-1, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB; Brian Rice 2-4; Tayler Cullen 3-4, 2B, RBI.

Records: Jamestown 23-12, 9-5 GPAC. Dakota Wesleyan 10-15, 4-10.

GPAC Men's Soccer Postseason Tournament

(23) Hastings College 2, University of Jamestown 1

UJ 0 1 — 1

HC 1 1 — 2

SCORING

FIRST HALF

1. H, Tyler Mase (David Panter), 39th.

SECOND HALF

2. H, Panter (Gorka Martinez), 85th; J, Diego Valle, 88th.

Goalie saves: J, Alex Hamer 1. H, Jesus Parra.

Shots: J, 5. H, 17.

Shots on goal: J, 1. H, 3.

Yellow cards: J, Pike 31st, Gross 61st. H, Wheeler 45th; Bakkeland 88th

Red cards: J, Gross 61st, Pike 88th.

Records: Hastings 11-3-1. Jamestown 6-10.

April 10,

Quarterfinal Round

(1) Morningside 4, (8) Dakota Wesleyan 0

(4) Northwestern 0, (5) Concordia 0 (2 OT) (Northwestern advances on penalty kicks, 10-9)

(3) Hastings 2, (6) Jamestown 1

(2) Briar Cliff 4, (7) Doane 0

April 13

Semifinal Round

Northwestern at Morningside, 7 PM

Hastings at Briar Cliff, 1 PM

April 16

GPAC Postseason Championship

Semifinal winners at highest seed remaining, time TBA