Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Dordt University baseball team opened its Spring Break trip with a doubleheader sweep against Cornerstone (Mich.). The Defenders won game one 8-1 and held off the Golden Eagles' 8-6 in game two. Both games were played as part of the Russ Matt Central Florida Invitational at the Northeast Regional Park in Davenport, Fla.

• Game One - Box Score | 
• Game Two - Box Score | 

Dordt improved to 6-8 this season and, following a day-off, will play Lawrence Tech (Mich.) and Siena Heights (Mich.) on Thursday, March 7. 

Game One: 8-1 Defenders win

• Key Plays:  
  • down 1-0, the Defenders went ahead for good with a 4-run, bottom of the third inning
    • Nolan Christianson and Phoenix West singled and Jason Carrig reached base on an Golden Eagles' error that scored Christianson
    • Drew Oreskes followed with a 3-run home run, his fourth of the season, to give the Defenders a 4-1 lead
  • leading 4-1, the Defenders scored another four runs in the bottom of the sixth
    • Dordt capitalized on a couple of hit-batsmen and a walk to load the bases
    • after a Cornerstone pitching change, West hit a sacrifice fly to score Harris for a 5-1 lead
    • Carrig then smashed a two-out, 3-run home run, his first of the season, to give Dordt an 8-1 advantage
• By the Numbers:
  • Dordt totaled eight hits, tied for the fifth most hits in a game this season
  • the Defenders eight runs is the second most scored this season
  • Dylan Stanley and Christianson both had multiple hits, going 2-for-3
  • Carrig matched his career-high with four RBIs
  • Oreskes matched his career-best with three RBIs
  • Daniel Buteyn (1-0) picked up the win in a bullpen game for the Defenders pitching staff
  • seven different Dordt pitchers combined to give up five hits and one run
    • one run given up matches the Defenders season-best
    • Dordt pitchers combined for eight strikeouts, third highest total of the season
  • Ben Barnes was one of five Cornerstone hitters with one hit; Barnes had the lone RBI
  • Cam Keatley (0-2) gave up seven hits and four runs in three innings for the Golden Eagles

Game Two: 8-6 Defenders Win

• Key Plays:
  • the Defenders scored first with a run in the top of the 1st
    • Phoenix West drew a leadoff walk, stole second and third and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Dylan Stanley
  • 11 batters came to the plate in the Defenders 7-run second inning
    • Dordt totaled three hits, four hits and took advantage of three Cornerstone errors in the frame
    • Caleb Beard led off with his first home run of the season
    • Josh Tiersma singled, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Carson Belcher for a 3-0 lead
    • Stanley recorded the other hit in the inning, a one-out triple that scored Drew Oreskes
  • leading 8-0, Cornerstone scored its first run and registered its first hit in the bottom of the second
  • both teams went scoreless in the third; Cornerstone pushed three runs across in the fourth to make the score 8-4
    • Jacob Sewell hit an RBI double and Andrew Eley hit a two-run single
  • Cornerstone added two more runs on a two-run home run by Ben Barnes to trim the Defenders lead down to two (8-6)
  • with the tying run at the plate, Defender pitcher Chance Laswell struck out Ruiz to end the fifth inning
  • Cornerstone put runners on first and third with one out in the sixth only to have the Defenders turn a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat
• By the Numbers:
  • Dordt was out-hit 11-8
  • Stanley once again led the Defenders at the plate, going 2/3 with a pair of RBIs; the senior extended his hit streak to three games
  • six different Defenders had one hit and eight different players scored a run
  • this was the second consecutive bullpen game for the Defenders pitching staff
    • Drew DeVries (1-0) earned the win by pitching a perfect third inning
    • Jae Kim picked up his first save with a scoreless seventh
  • Ryan McArthur (0-1) gave up four hits, five earned runs in 1.2 innings for the loss