V-Hawks Drop Three Games in Joplin Tournament

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Viterbo University Baseball team played three games at a tournament in Joplin, Missouri this weekend, losing to Northwestern College (Iowa), 0-5, Graceland University (Iowa), 2-3, and Grand View University (Iowa), 2-11. The V-Hawks now sit at 1-10 on the year.

Against Northwestern, the Red Raiders took an early lead with an RBI grounder, and extended that lead with two runs in both the third and fourth innings. Garrett Heying was the only V-Hawk with a hit in that time. After a Cody Wells single in the seventh failed to score, Viterbo left two runners on base, and one more in the final inning.

Wells and Heying were the only two V-Hawks to record a hit, while Gavin Daniel was walked twice. Five Raiders recorded a hit. Brandon Jaenke (L, 0-3) had four strikeouts in 4.0 IP, while Aldan Sleperda (W, 1-0) had six in 5.0.

Viterbo would strike first against Graceland, as Blake Warner's sacrifice fly scored Wells in the top of the first. The Yellowjackets responded with two in the bottom of the frame, and despite two VU hits in the third, extended their lead to 3-1. The V-Hawks began to rally in the sixth, as Nathan Faust, Marcus Hornacek, and Camdem Smith all recorded hits. However, only one run scored, and the V-Hawks fell 2-3.

Six V-Hawks recorded a hit, while Smith and Warner each had an RBI. JD Woodruff had two of Graceland's five hits. Jake Ouweneel recorded the loss while striking out five batters, and Felix Lopez had three in his win.

In the final game, the Vikings took a commanding lead right away, with eight runs on six hits. Brett Stuessel singled in the bottom of the second, but was stranded on third. Three more hits in the fourth also resulted in no runs, but Spencer Hans got the V-Hawks on the board in the fifth with an RBI single, followed by another RBI from Hunter Hess. However, after Grand View added three runs in the seventh, Viterbo was only able to muster one more hit and no more runs.

Hans and Stuessel led the way with two hits apiece, and three others had one.  Brock Johnson had three hits for GVU. Joe Nelan recorded the loss, while Jason Moist had six strikeouts in his win.

The V-Hawks return to action next weekend with a series at Park University (Mo.).