Vikings Open Baseball Season

Omaha, NE ~ The Viking baseball team opened their 2008 campaign with a home game on Sunday afternoon at Omaha Westside High School.  Dana split the two games against York College.  The Vikings lost the first game 12-4, but rebounded to win the second 8-2.

In game one, Dana took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning.  Austin Lunn (FR, Omaha, NE) smacked a one-out double.  He advanced to third on a passed ball, before being driven home by a Quentin Connealy (SR, Tekamah, NE) single.  Connealy then was driven home by an Andrew James (FR, Omaha, NE) single.  The Vikings were unable to push another run across in the inning and left two stranded on base.

Dana’s lead was short lived.  York scored six runs in the next two innings off five hits and two errors.  The Vikings climbed back into the game in the bottom of the fifth.  Justin Nicola (FR, Omaha, NE) was hit by a pitch and was then driven home by an Andrew James home run.  This was as close as Dana would come.  The Panthers struck for five more runs in the top of the seventh.

Freshman Andrew James went two for three in his college debut with three RBI’s.  Senior Quentin Connealy also went two for three in the opener with an RBI.  Kyle Courtney (JR, Omaha, NE) took the loss for the Vikings.  Courtney pitched 3 and two-thirds innings, giving up eight hits and seven earned runs.  He walked six batters and struck out three.  Two Dana relievers pitched three and one-third innings, giving up five runs on three hits.

The Vikings bounced back in game two.  Dana scored runs in the first four innings on eight hits.  Austin Lunn proved to be the catalyst again for the Vikings.  Lunn hit a two run double in the bottom of the first to give Dana a 2-1 lead.  Cody Falk (FR, Arlington, NE) got the Vikings going with a single in the bottom of the second.  He was then picked off first base.  Andrew Cookston (FR, Lincoln, NE) doubled and then advanced to third on a wild pitch.  Andrew James doubled to score Cookston to give Dana a 3-1 lead.

Tim Sabadin (SR, Lake Elizabeth, CA) started the third inning off by getting hit by a pitch.  Sabadin advanced to second when Austin Lunn was hit by another pitch.  Quentin Connealy crushed a homerun to left field to give Dana a 6-1 lead.  The Vikings scored their final runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Blake Peterson (FR, Avoca, IA) walked to open then inning.  Freshman Taylor Hoskinson (Omaha, NE) drove Peterson home with a triple.  Hoskinson scored on a Tim Sabadin sacrifice fly.  Dana survived tense moments in the top of the sixth and seventh innings, but gave up only one run.

Taylor Hoskinson led the Vikings with two runs scored and went two for four.  Tim Sabadin went one for two with two runs scored and an RBI.  Quentin Connealy drove in three runs in the Dana win.

Robert Riggs (SO, Council Bluffs, IA) pitched five strong innings for the Vikings.  Riggs allowed only two runs on five hits with one strike out.  Anthony Teal (JR, Omaha, NE) and John Ocken (FR, Omaha, NE) combined for two innings of perfect relief work.

The Vikings are now 1-1 on the season.  Their game against Peru State was postponed due to weather on Monday.  Dana hopes to get in their four-game home stand this weekend against Bethany College.  Saturday’s double header starts at 1:00pm at Petersen Field.  Sunday is scheduled for a noon first pitch.

Coach Misfeldt’s Corner

“I was extremely happy with the way our guys played yesterday. Considering that we had not been outside (to practice or play) yet this year – plus the fact that we are starting six freshmen -- we did an awful lot of good things in our first outing of the year. I thought we played pretty tough and competed well for our first time out.”

Pitching -- “Rob Riggs (our game 2 winner) proved that you don’t have to throw 90 miles an hour to win at our level. He simply threw strikes, and that was huge. Fact is, he only threw 60-some pitches – including just three pitches in the fourth – during in his five innings on the mound.”

Offense -- “We swung it awfully well as a team. We had 13 hits, which is great. But I was very pleased with a lot of our other at-bats where we made outs too. If I had to single anyone out, it would be Quentin Connealy and Andrew James. Q had a great day, going 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI. I’m not surprised at all though with the way Q swung the bat. He works his butt off in the cage. He’s always taking extra quality hacks, and it paid off the first day of the season. Andrew didn’t surprise me much either. He was a very good player in high school (at Millard West) and I look for him to nothing but get better over the next four years here at Dana.”

For complete box scores, please go to:

Game One:  http://www.dana.edu/baseball/stats08/yordan1a.htm

Game Two:  http://www.dana.edu/baseball/stats08/yordan2.htm

For more information, please contact:  Shad Beam, Sports Information Director, 402-426-7389 or sbeam@dana.edu.