MITCHELL, S.D. – Reigning Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament champion Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team will look to the middle of its lineup to set the tone this season as the Tigers seek a return trip to the NAIA postseason.
Last season, DWU got hot down the stretch and made a run all the way to the NAIA Opening Round. The Tigers started the Great Plains Athletic Conference 1-7, but rallied down the stretch to squeak into the conference tournament as the No. 7 seed. DWU bulldozed its way through the Doane College pool, dispatching three other teams, including regular season champion Doane. By a stroke of luck, the Tigers hosted the GPAC title game at Cadwell Park. DWU fell behind Midland University early, but rallied one more time to win the tournament.
DWU headed to Oklahoma City, Okla., for the NAIA opening round and despite a strong effort was swept out of the tournament after two games. The Tigers finished the 2015 season 24-26 overall and 10-10 in the GPAC.
The past few months, the Tigers have been practicing in the new DWU/Avera Sports Wellness Complex in preparation for their first contest against fourth ranked Tabor College Saturday in Hillsboro, Kan.
"We are a mature group and we have to play that way and take care of the things we can control," Greicar said. "Our expectation is to play our style of baseball and have confidence."
Head Coach John Greicar returns for his second year with a powerful group of seniors. DWU returns six offensive starters from last year, including senior slugger Neil Nagle (Oslo, Minn.). The three-year starter at first base, played in 44 games last season and had a .361 batting average to go along with 49 RBIs.
"We need to go down and compete and play our game and do what we do best," Nagle said. "We just need to play our style of baseball and be fundamentally sound."
Looking at the rest of the lineup DWU will rely on 2015 GPAC Honorable Mention and redshirt senior second baseman Cole Wenande (Alexandria, S.D.). He started in 47 games last year. Wenande finished third on the team last year with 42 hits and added 19 RBIs.
Greicar will have the ability to mix the lineup and test what player fits in the best role. Redshirt junior Jared Neilan (Pierre, S.D.), also a 2015 GPAC Honorable Mention, will be looked upon as a staple in the batting order after starting in all 48 games last year and recording a .333 batting average.
Other players Greicar will count on to make an impact will be juniors Peyton Price (Norfolk, Neb.) and Zach Uttecht (Pierce, Neb.). DWU welcomes back senior Jonah Johnson (Kerkhoven, Minn.) a 2014 GPAC Honorable Mention, as a much needed presence in the outfield after missing much of 2015 due to injury suffered on an early season trip to Tucson, Ariz.
"Our biggest strength is to put the ball in play, getting jobs done and be station to station," Nagle said. "We have a lot of speed, and with that speed that brings a lot of things into play as far as stolen bases and putting ourselves into a position to score every inning."
The Tigers added junior college transfer Tramane Moore (Los Banos, Calif.) behind the plate after losing All-GPAC Second Team catcher Ben Ladner, who has stayed on as an assistant coach for Greicar. Moore will have to compete with the powerful bat of junior utility player Hartman Katz (Huron, S.D.) for time behind the dish. Seniors Nolan Luhmann (Jackson, Minn.) and Dominic Sebastiani (San Francisco, Calif.) are proven leaders that Greciar will count on to keep the Tigers in the game.
On the mound, DWU will look to younger pitchers to step up after the graduation of All-GPAC First Team and GPAC Pitcher-of-the-Year Joey Fitzgerald. Senior Dustin Steckler, a 2015 GPAC Honorable Mention, will be seen as a vocal leader of the pitching staff. Greicar and pitching assistant Brady Nolz have high hopes for redshirt freshman Nathen Smith (Altona, Manitoba, Canada).
"We have a lot of guys with experience coming back and hopefully we can stay healthy," Steckler said about the DWU pitching staff.
