Baseball team bounces back with series win

The Dixie State College baseball team gained some confidence with three wins in four games over the weekend after starting the season 3-5. The Red Storm (6-6, 1-3) hosted the Montana State University-Billings Yellowjackets (1-7) on Sunday and Monday for a four game set. In game one on Sunday, the team sent junior pitcher Justin Prodan to the mound. Prodan responded with his first win of the season, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits, giving up one earned run and striking out five. The Yellowjacket starter matched Prodan through two innings of play, and that is when the wheels came off. DSC scored five runs in the bottom half of the third inning, mostly off of three walks given up by MSU-B. Five runs was all the insurance Prodan would need, allowing the sole run of the day in the fifth inning, making the game 6-1. The Red Storm would add two more insurance runs, making the final score 8-1. Senior centerfielder Brett Adams was the big bat for DSC, going two for two with two runs scored, a walk and a run batted in. Drew Oldfield, a senior integrated studies major from Aurora, Colo., said the team is hitting the ball much better than they were earlier in the season. He said the pitchers' ability to get big outs and keep the team in games has helped them get where they are today. In game two, freshman pitcher Troy Hunter took the mound for DSC and promptly went four innings, giving up five hits, one run, and striking out two. In the first inning, MSU-B scored one run, but in the home half of the inning DSC broke out for five runs. The Yellowjackets would not score until the seventh inning, and by then the Red Storm had used a nine run fourth inning to put the game well out of hand at 14-1, adding one more run in the sixth to push the advantage to 15-1. The final score was 15-3. Oldfield said this team's pitching staff is one of the more talented he has seen at DSC. "Last year we had more veterans on our staff, but this year we have more quality arms," Oldfield said. "We have a lot more depth. We need to keep improving because our bats are only going to keep getting better." Junior infielder Justin Jensen was the hero of the game for the Red Storm, going three for four with two runs scored and four RBIs. Freshman infielder Colton Yack also had three hits and drove in two runs. Yack, a sports medicine major from South Jordan, said the team is slowly improving on offense, while the defense and pitching aspects remain as strong points. "We just focus on the next pitch, regardless of what has happened in the past," Yack said. "It is a mental game and if we focus on a game at a time we should do well." The Red Storm was one-hit by the Yellowjacket starter in game one on Monday, en route to a 2-1 defeat. Senior pitcher Preston Grimes allowed a two-run homer in the third inning, and that was all MSU-B needed. In game two DSC starting pitcher, sophomore Alex Hesterly, pitched a magnificent game, allowing only one run on six hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. The offense staked him to an early 4-1 lead after the first inning as the team coasted to a 5-1 win. The team will travel to face Academy of Art (0-7) on Friday and Saturday.

To read more about Brett Adams click here: Brett Adams