– University of Jamestown Thursday Sports

Jamestown (UJ) The University of Jamestown softball team kept its postseason hopes alive with a sweep of Mount Marty (S.D.) University Thursday, winning 4-3 and 7-6 at Trapper Field.

Jamestown (21-21 overall, 8-10 GPAC) is currently eighth in the conference standings, two games ahead of Briar Cliff (Iowa) University (8-10) in the loss column. The Jimmies have four games left to play, including home doubleheaders against Northwestern (Iowa) on Saturday and Hastings (Neb.) on Sunday.

UJ rallied from a 3-0 fourth inning deficit in game one, scoring the winning run with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Gentrey Turin (SO/Sandy, Ore.) led off the inning with a bunt single, then Ally Battistoni (FR/Elizabeth, Colo.) reached on an error by first baseman Molly McCloud. McCloud then committed a throwing error on the play, allowing Turin to advance to third and Battistoni to second. The Jimmies’ next batter, LaLa Romero (FR/Surprise, Ariz.), lined out to McCloud at first for the first out. In an attempt to double off Turin from third, McCloud’s throw went wide of third baseman Kelly Amezcua, and Turin scored standing up.

Hailey Schaefer (FR/Valley City, N.D.) made her second start of the season and worked into the fifth inning, allowing just one earned run while striking out five. With runners on first and second and no outs, Katie Merchant (JR/South Haven, Minn.) came in and pitched three hitless innings.

Mount Marty errors helped the Jimmies score their two fifth-inning runs. A Turin bunt moved Jayda Neiles (FR/Winnipeg, MB) to third, then a wild throw by Amezcua let Turin take second and Neiles score. Battistoni then hit a fly ball dropped by the right fielder, and ended up on third base as Turin came around to score.

After Santina Zito (JR/Boise, Idaho) doubled with two out in the bottom of the sixth, Sunny Halsey (FR/Honolulu, Hawaii) delivered a clutch single to right to tie the game at 3-3.

Zito and Turin both finished 2-for-3 at the plate. Gracie Fisher (SO/Bemidji, Minn.) added a double leading off the second inning.

While Merchant’s work in the circle helped UJ take game one, it was her bat that made the difference in game two. Her two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the fifth broke a 4-4 tie and the Jimmies held on for a 7-6 win.

Megan Neiles (SO/Winnipeg, MB) had an RBI single and Zito launched a two-run homer in Jamestown’s three-run first.

The Lancers got one run back in the second, but Neiles went deep with one out in the bottom of the third to make it a 4-1 game. Mount Marty then rallied for three runs in the fifth to even the score.

Neiles delivered an important insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth to put the Jimmies up 7-5. The Lancers got a solo home run to start the seventh but Kat Miska (SR/Pequot Lakes, Minn.) retired the final three batters to end the game.

Miska struck out nine in seven innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on 13 hits.

Neiles, Zito, LaLa Romero, and Steph Cota (JR/Tucson, Ariz.) all had a pair of hits.

UJ will host Northwestern (Iowa) Saturday at 1 p.m.

Baseball

MITCHELL, S.D. (UJ) – The University of Jamestown baseball team won their sixth straight game and eighth in their last 10 Thursday, defeating Dakota Wesleyan University 7-4 and 16-5.

UJ improves to 26-21 overall and 15-11 in the GPAC, and will close out the regular season Friday with another doubleheader against DWU.

A five-run sixth inning was the difference in the opener, helping the Jimmies turn a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 victory.

Reece McKenzie (FR/Gresham, OR), Quade Peters (FR/West Fargo, ND), Tanner Shepard (SR/Grand Rapids, MN), and Ryan Muizelaar (FR/Grand Forks, ND) all drove in runs as Jamestown finished the inning with five hits, a walk, and an error.

Kendall Yackley (JR/Lynnwood, WA) led off the game with a solo home run, then the Tigers scored once in both the first and second innings for a 2-1 lead. Triston Madison (FR/Spokane, WA) tied the game in the top of the fourth with a double, but DWU retook the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom half.

Shepard finished with a pair of hits, while Xander Orejudos (JR/Ellensburg, WA) and Tayler Cullen (SR/Santa Rosa, Calif.) also doubled. Nine different Jimmies collected a hit.

Cameron Jenkins (SR/West Richland, WA), the third UJ pitcher, picked up the win. Hayden Brown (JR/Buckeye, AZ) struck out four of the six batters he faced over the final 1 1/3 innings to record the save.

Tayler Cullen went 3-for-3 with a double and two home runs, scoring three runs and driving in six more as Jamestown scored in every inning but the fifth in a 16-5 win in game two.

After Tanner Shepard and Luke Shekeryk (SR/Seattle, WA) singled with two out, Cullen followed with his first home run to make it 3-0. Ryan Muizelaar led off the second with a homer and a 4-0 lead.

The third inning saw the Jimmies break the game wide open as Shepard, Cullen, and Kendall Yackley had RBI doubles, Isaiah Roebuck (FR/Marana, AZ) singled home a run and later stole home, and Xander Orejudos had a two-run single as UJ finished the inning with seven runs on six hits, a walk, and and error.

DWU got on the board with three runs in the third, ending the UJ shutout hopes. Cullen’s second home run came leading off the fourth, making it 12-3 Jamestown. The Tigers plated two in the fifth, but a Cullen sacrifice fly in the sixth and two runs on an error and a Trent Peters (SO/Niverville, MB, Canada) RBI single in the seventh rounded out the scoring.

Payson Mills (JR/Blackfoot, ID) went four innings, striking out six, to get the win. Cameron Multer (SO/Greeley, CO), Ethan Krupp (SO/Corvallis, OR), and Mitchell Dennis (SO/Okotoks, AB, Canada) combined to strike out five over the final three innings.

Roebuck finished 3-for-4 while Shepard, Shekeryk, and Quade Peters all had two hits.