Prairie Wolf baseball wins automatic bid to GPAC tournament

The Nebraska Wesleyan University baseball team swept GPAC rival Doane in a double header Saturday, earning the squad the 2009 GPAC title and an automatic bid to the 2009 NAIA National Tournament. The Prairie Wolves beat the Tigers 3-2 and 14-7 on Senior Day to knock them out of the running for the GPAC tournament.

Game one of the doubleheader remained tight through six innings, tied 2-2. In the bottom of the sixth, however, Jeremy Peters led NWU off with a single, stole second base and was knocked in with the game-winning hit by Max Hubka.

Cory Hilgenkamp earned the win on the mound with a complete game. After allowing two runs in the first inning, Hilgenkamp shut down Doane, throwing six scoreless innings in a row.

Peters was 2-3 in the first game with a run scored while Josh Ostram was 1-2 with a 2-RBI double.

Doane jumped to an early lead in the second game, putting the Prairie Wolves at a 6-3 deficit heading into the bottom of the third inning. In this inning, though, NWU held a five-run rally, led by a three-run double by Peters.

NWU rallied once again in the fifth inning with another five runs. Ostram led the inning with a two-run double while Corey Peterson had a 2-run single.

Andres Gatzemeyer earned the victory as a relief, coming in for 1 1/3 innings to take over for starter Owen Schmidt. Ostram earned the save, pitching the final four innings of the game with only one run allowed.

The two final regular season victories leave the Prairie Wolves with a 27-9 overall record (18-6 GPAC). Their 27 wins breaks the NWU record for wins in a season.

This season's GPAC title is the first for the program since 2001. It also marks the first trip to postseason since 2000 and only the second since 1982.

NWU will be the number one seed of the 2009 GPAC Postseason Tournament, held Apr. 30-May 2 in Hastings. NWU will open against eighth-ranked University of Sioux Falls at 9:00 Thursday morning.