DUBUQUE, Iowa — Nebraska Wesleyan kept the bats rolling Sunday, sending 20 runs across the plate in a 20-5 road win over the University of Dubuque at Dan Runkle Field.
Brady Bell and Jake Shedarowich combined for seven hits, five runs scored and eight RBI to pace a Prairie Wolf lineup that finished with 22 hits on the afternoon.
Garrett Walsh worked through six innings for Nebraska Wesleyan, surrendering one run, zero earned, while striking out eight across 6.0 frames. Walsh picked up the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Prairie Wolves wasted little time getting on the board. Brayden Harvey singled to open the game and stole second before Easton Johnson moved him to third on a groundout. With two outs, Bell singled through the left side to score Harvey and give Nebraska Wesleyan a 1-0 lead.
Dubuque answered in the second on a two-out double by Ryan Turner that scored an unearned run, knotting the game at one.
Nebraska Wesleyan retook the lead for good in the fifth. Jaxon Volkmer was hit by pitch and stole second to set the table. After a walk and a groundout put runners on second and third, Johnson singled to center to score Volkmer. Shedarowich then singled to put runners at first and second, and Bell cleared them all with a three-run home run to center field, pushing the advantage to 5-1.
The Prairie Wolves tacked on two more in the sixth when Volkmer drove Gavin Crogg home on a two-run blast to right center, extending the lead to 7-1. It was Volkmer's first career home run as a Prairie Wolf.
The Prairie Wolves blew the game open with a three-run seventh. Johnson walked and stole second before a Cohle Sherman double plated him. Crogg and Volkmer added consecutive RBI singles to make it 10-1.
Shedarowich provided the signature blow of the eighth, launching a two-run homer to left to push the lead to 12-1. Pinch hitter Rudy Gres IV added an RBI single to close out the frame.
Nebraska Wesleyan's Caleb DeWitt and Ryan Johnson combined to allow four runs in the eighth, but the damage was largely contained. DeWitt, Johnson and Charlie Mosser all saw action in relief.
Nebraska Wesleyan then sent eleven batters to the plate in a seven-run ninth to put the final touches on the victory. Duncan Ortega, Johnson, Shedarowich, Bell, Crogg, and Volkmer each drove in runs during the surge, with Crogg's triple and Volkmer's double doing the bulk of the damage.
Shedarowich went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and three RBI. Bell matched that with a 4-for-4 showing that included a home run, a double, five RBI and two runs scored. Johnson and Crogg each scored multiple times and drove in two runs, while Volkmer finished 4-for-5 with four RBI.
UP NEXT
Nebraska Wesleyan continues its final stretch Tuesday against Buena Vista University at NWU Championship Stadium at Sandhills Global Youth Complex. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
