TUCSON, Ariz. (uj.edu)— The University of Jamestown baseball team opened Great Plains Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) University Saturday, winning 8-0 and 7-1.
The sweep improves the Jimmies’ overall record to 17-5 and 2-0 in the GPAC. Dakota Wesleyan falls to 6-10 overall and 0-2 in the GPAC.
UJ scored early and often in the first inning, getting five runs across in their opening trip to the plate.
Luke Shekeryk (JR/Seattle, WA) doubled in Brian Rice (JR/Vancouver, WA) for the game’s first run, then Lincoln Trujillo (SR/Cheyenne, WY) blasted his sixth home run of the season to make it 3-0. One batter later, Dirk Eymundson (SO/Parkland County, AB, Canada) connected on his fourth homer of the year for a 4-0 lead, then Ben Pedigo (JR/Olympia, WA) doubled in Chase Hacker (SR/Millcreek, WA), making it 5-0.
Shekeryk added an RBI double in the fourth and another in the sixth while Derek Almanza (JR/Bow, WA) drove UJ’s other run in the sixth. Shekeryk finished 4-for-4 at the dish with three RBI.
Pedigo doubled twice as he and Trujillo finished with multiple hit games.
Dru Fitz (SR/Gresham, OR) (2-0) struck out 11 in six shutout innings while allowing just three hits.
A five-run second inning for Jamestown gave them all the runs they would need in a 7-1 win in game two Saturday.
Jared Bentley (SR/Washougal, WA), Brian Rice, Grant Okawa (SR/Mississauga, ON), and Luke Shekeryk accounted for the run-scoring hits in the inning.
Kendall Yackley (SO/Lynnwood, WA)’s sacrifice fly in the sixth made it 6-0 and a Matt Meraz (SR/Aurora, CO) seventh-inning single scored Okawa for run number seven.
Kensaku Akiya (SR/Kawasaki, Japan) (1-2) took a no-hitter into the fifth and allowed only two hits over seven innings of work, walking two and striking out five.
Okawa, Meraz, and Bentley all had two hits for UJ.
Due to the GPAC suspending all athletic activities from Sunday, March 15-Sunday, April 5, Jamestown’s next scheduled game is a home doubleheader against Dordt (Iowa) University on April 9.
The GPAC stated it will reevaluate its decision on March 27
