Dixie State Athletics had one of its best collective weeks this Spring. Softball pitcher Aryn Feickert pitched a perfect game. Her cohort, Michelle Duncan, remained undefeated, now sitting at 16-0. Dixie State softball now has a 29-5 record and is undefeated in the PacWest at 20-0. Golfer Kenny You collected his second trophy of the spring. The Red Storm baseball team is also in first place in the conference at 11-1, sitting a full three games ahead of second-place Cal Baptist. Here is a recap of the week:
MEN’S GOLF
Kenny You finished at three-under-par after three rounds of golf to take first place at the Cal Baptist Men’s Invitational. His finish helped lead the team to fourth place overall.
You shot a two-under 70 in the final round and shot 213 for the full three rounds. He edged out hard-charging Simon Fraser’s John Mlikotic, who shot up from 10th at the start of the day to finish one stroke behind You at 214. This is the second individual win for You of the spring season after winning the Pat Hicks Invitational. He also finished second at the San Bernardino Coyote Classic.
Simon Fraser scored the top team finish with a combined 870 after a third round of 289. Dixie State finished fourth with an 885 after a day three total of 297. Sonoma State and Chico State ended up in second and third place, respectively.
For Dixie State, behind You was Cody Wass tied for 11th with a day three round of 74. Donny Hopoi logged a 75 to finish tied for 23rd. Dane Nelson tied for 47th with a 78 in the third round and Tyson Tanner came in at No. 58 with a 78.
Dixie State will play in the Cal State East Bay Pioneer Shootout on March 30-31 in California.
BASEBALL
The Dixie State baseball team completed a series sweep over Holy Names on Sunday afternoon at Bruce Hurst Field. The Storm took game one by a score of 10-3 and won the seven-inning finale, 6-2. DSU improved to 16-8 on the season and 11-1 in PacWest play. The Storm have won 16 of 17 after dropping their first seven games of the season.
In game one, Dixie State took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles from Trey Kamachi and Donald Glover. The visiting Hawks tied the game in the top of the fourth, but DSU answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. The Storm scored eight more before HNU posted a closing run in the final inning.
Drew McLaughlin finished the game 3-for-4 with a run scored and one driven in while Glover and Zach Watts each had two runs batted in.
Aaron Pope picked up the win. The freshman southpaw has not allowed a walk in 26.1 innings this season. Tanner Howell notched a three-inning save after allowing one run over the final three innings.
In the finale, Dixie State capitalized on three HNU errors to score four times in the first inning. Kevin Kline flared a single into right field, knocking in half of the Storm’s early tallies.
HNU would threaten in the top of the sixth by loading the bases with nobody out. Kolton Brost got the only batter he faced to pop out on the infield-fly rule. Jeremy Alderman entered to face a pinch hitter and ended the inning with a double play.
Tanner Morache led the offense from the leadoff spot going 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Hayes Hall had the only extra-base hit, a double, in the Storm sixth.
John Conquy earned the win throwing five innings of two-run, eight-hit baseball and striking out three. Brost, Alderman and Evan Parker allowed just one hit over the final two innings.
Morache received newcomer of the week from the PacWest conference for the week. He hit .500, scoring eight runs and batting in three more. He is fourth in the conference in hits (38) and batting average (.392)
Dixie State remains at home to host Academy of Art beginning Friday, March 27 in a doubleheader at 4 p.m.
SOFTBALL
The No. 5 Dixie State softball team endured a slugfest in game two to finish off a sweep of Academy of Art with 10-1 and 11-6 wins on Saturday afternoon.
Dixie State extended its winning streak to 23 games and the catching tandem of Autumn Woodfall and Marla Reiter combined for eight hits, seven RBI, five runs and two home runs on the day. Nicole Chavez went 3 for 3 in game two with two RBI and scored six runs over the course of two games.
Michelle Duncan started game one and picked up win No. 16 with a gritty three-hit game in five innings. She allowed one earned run, walked one and had one strikeout. She came on in relief in game two to take over for Feickert. Duncan added two and two-thirds innings of work, giving up a two-run homer, but kept the Urban Knights from making a comeback.
Feickert earned the win in the second game after four and a third innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits. She struckout five and walked two.
Feickert earned the PacWest conference pitcher of the week for her perfomance earlier in the week. She threw a perfect game against Academy of Art, striking out seven in 5.0 innings. It was the first perfect game in the DII-era for Dixie State. The award is Feickert’s third of the season.
Dixie State faces Division I Southern Utah University this afternoon in a non-conference match-up before hosting Colorado Mesa for a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon.
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