The Basics

Game 1: Evangel 4, Dakota State 21 | Box Score

Game 2: Evangel 8, Dakota State 5 | Box Score

Game 3: Evangel 0, Dakota State 10 | Box Score

Game 4: Evangel 3, Dakota State 15 | Box Score

Record: Evangel (8-19), Dakota State (11-9)

Location: Springfield, Mo. (University Field)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Evangel Baseball hosted the Trojans of Dakota State for a four game series on Friday and Saturday (Mar. 14/15), looking to take a win against a strong squad out of South Dakota.

Evangel fell in game one, 21-4, before taking game two with an 8-5 win. The Valor fell in their final two games of the series, 10-0 and 15-3, respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• GAME ONE

  • Evangel and Dakota State played a scoreless first three innings of play in game one, as Isaac Daley had a strong start, allowing just two runs over four innings.

  • Evangel scored their first run of the contest in the bottom of the fourth, after Dakota State scored two runs in the top of the inning. Evan Baptiste reached on an error and scored on singles from Quentin Edwards and Clay Palen to make it a 2-1 game.

  • On what was a windy day, Dakota State used the wind to their advantage, racking off several hits in the fifth inning that would have been outs on a normal day, scoring 17 runs to take a 19-1 lead.

  • Dakota State scored two runs to close out the game as EU would score on a three run home run from Justice Loflin in the bottom of the seventh, falling 21-4.

• GAME TWO

  • Cooper Wilken earned the start in game two, pitching well by allowing just two runs to score.

  • Dakota State held a 2-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth when Evangel exploded offensively. Brendan Coffindaffer singled through the left side, followed by an error to put Matthew Olson on base. Singles from Heath Perry, Shane Poe, and Cade Beshore kept the line moving, scoring Olson and Coffindaffer. Baptiste and Edwards hit sacrifice flys to score Poe and Perry, before Palen doubled to score Beshore. Justice Loflin and Coffindaffer singled to score Palen and load the bases with a Perry walk scoring Loflin and a wild pitch scoring Parker Ellifritz, who had entered to run, closing Evangel inning with a 8-2 lead.

  • Rain, strong winds, and a tornado warning ended game two early on Friday, but not before Dakota State added three runs to draw within three runs of EU's lead, 8-5.

  • Evangel and Dakota State resumed game two on Saturday morning and TJ Newman shut down the Trojans, earning the save in EU's 8-5 win.

• GAME THREE

  • Four fielding errors in game three hurt Evangel's chances as Brayden Epperhart threw 4.2 innings, allowing just three earned runs.

  • The Valor mustered just four hits in the game, not scoring a run in the 10-0 loss.

• GAME FOUR

  • Dakota State scored six runs to open the final game of the series, but the Valor fought back, scoring a pair of runs to trail 6-2 at the end of the opening inning. Poe and Kannon Perry opened the inning with singles before groundouts from Baptiste and Palen scored both runners.

  • The Trojans scored nine runs from the second to final innings of play, taking a 15-3 win, while Evangel scored just one additional run as K. Perry singled and Newman ran for the catcher, scoring on a Justus Cherrico single up the middle.

QUOTABLE 

"The story of the weekend was our inability to make the routine play. Our defensive struggles extended some innings that got away from us. Cooper Wilken, Hayden Larson, and TJ Newman did an excellent job in game two, executing their pitches and competing. The guys battled at the dish and we were able to put together a big inning to get us the win," head coach Sam Jones stated. "I thought Brayden Epperhart deserved better than what he got in game three. Again, defensively we didn't do enough job making the routine plays. We're a little banged up right now, so a day off is much needed before we get back to work on Monday."

NOTABLE

• Justice Loflin and Clay Palen both led Evangel with three RBIs over the weekend.

• Cooper Wilken earned his second win of the season while TJ Newman earned his first save in game two.

NEXT UP

Evangel Baseball hosts Friends for a single nine-inning matchup on Tuesday (Mar. 18) afternoon at 3:00 p.m.

For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play.