Baseball Season Ends with Split at Mesa State
Prodan tosses record complete game, Adams wins team Triple Crown
John Potter, Assistant Sports Information
4/28/2010 9:34:08 PM
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Dixie State baseball team closed out the 2010 regular season splitting doubleheader action against Mesa State College at Suplizio Field. Justin Prodan (Rohnert Park, CA/Rancho Cotate) went the distance in DSC’s 7-2 victory in Wednesday’s opener. The Storm could not suppress the Mavericks in the nightcap blowing an eight-run lead to drop the series finale on a walk-off hit 12-11.
Dixie State finishes their 50-game schedule with a 31-19 record – the second consecutive season the Red Storm has surpassed the 30-win mark.
Prodan (W, 8-4) tossed his eighth complete game to claim the top spot in the DSC Division-II record books besting the previous mark of seven by Chad Povich in 2007. The junior allowed two runs on nine hits while striking out six.
Drew Oldfield (Aurora, CO/Rangeview) and Judd Jensen (Taylorsville, UT/Taylorsville) each blasted solo homers. The duo joined Brett Adams (Sandy. UT/Alta HS) and Quinn Boyer (Ogden, UT/Bonneville HS) with multi-hit games. The Storm swatted 10 hits handing Mesa starter Derek Riley the loss.
In the finale, Dixie State jumped out to an 11-3 lead via the extra-base hit. Oldfield and Adams slugged back-to-back home runs in a three-run fourth inning. Boyer cleared the bases with a double in the 5th. In his last collegiate at-bat, Adams lined his second homer of the game to left field.
Mesa State chipped away the eight run cushion with four runs in the sixth and capped off the comeback with five more tallies in the seventh. Erik Nordine brought home the game-winner with a single to right field scoring pinch runner Peter Arakawa from second.
Payton Rentmeister (Riverton, UT/Riverton) took the hard-luck loss (3-2) in relief. Starting pitcher Preston Grimes (Taylorsville, UT/Taylorsville) allowed seven runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings while fanning six.
Adams tops the end-of-season stat column for Dixie State in batting average (.423), home runs (17), runs batted in (64), doubles (14) and walks (29). Oldfield finished second in HR (12) and RBI (49). Boyer finished second in the batting average race at a .386 clip. As a whole, Dixie State batted .322 as a team with 46 home runs and 306 RBI.
On the pitching side, four DSC hurlers ended the season with ERA’s at 4.00 or better – Rentmeister (3.05), Troy Hunter (3.30), Prodan (3.61) and Lane Kirby (4.00). Prodan led the all pitchers with eight wins and 77 strikeouts while Todd Morlock secured nine of 13 saves. The staff ended with a combined 4.78 ERA striking out 252 batters in 356 innings.