Pitching, Mooney lead DSC to series sweep of Knights

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OAKLAND, Calif. – Dixie State College baseball completed a four-game sweep of the Academy of Art on Friday, pushing its record to 4-0 overall and in the Pacific West Conference. The Red Storm took the opener 5-1 behind a complete game performance from Josh Mooney (American Fork, UT/American Fork) in the rain and saw three pitchers combine to allow three hits in the 2-1 finale at Laney College.

Mooney, a transfer from Salt Lake Community College, shined in his DSC debut. Over 9.0 innings, he allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out 11 batters, the fifth Storm pitcher to achieve that feat in the Division-II era.

“That outing was exactly why we wanted Josh to come to Dixie so badly,” DSC head coach Mike Littlewood said. “He was very sharp with three pitches today, he felt confident throwing his slider for strikes.”

Mooney did not allow a hit through the first seven frames, while facing the minimum number of batters through 4.1 innings.

“I tried not to let the rain be a factor,” Mooney said. “I hit my spots well and credit Joe (Andrade) for getting me extra strikes behind the plate. His diving catch on the bunt (in the 4th inning) was the play of the game.”

DSC scored single runs in each of the first three frames. Garrett Nash (Draper, UT/Jordan) took a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on a wild pitch in the opening inning. Jordan Hanley (Las Vegas. NV/Bonanza) scored in the next inning on a balk after reaching with a bunt single. Nash scored again, in the third, on a Cedric Johnson (Thatcher, AZ/Thatcher) ground ball.

Two more runs in the fifth pushed the lead to 5-0. Johnson brought in Tyler Slesk (Bellingham, WA/Meridian) with a sacrifice fly and Andrade walked with the bases loaded.

ART U's Zach Babbit broke up Mooney's bid for a no-hitter with a single in the 7th and stymied the shutout with an RBI single in the 9th. Yoshi Uemura scattered five runs on five hits and walked seven in his collegiate debut for the loss.

Game two ended up as a pitcher's duel. Dixie's Sam Friend (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial) allowed an earned run on three hits over three innings, and handed the reins to freshman Stefan Cantwell (South Jordan, UT/Bingham). The football player-turned reliever struck out five in three hitless innings for his first collegiate win. Daniel Zapata (Mesa, AZ/Westwood) struck out two in the seventh to lock up the save.

"Cantwell was a nice surprise for us," Littlewood said. "He was throwing hard. It's nice to see him and Jason Holmes (Cedar City, UT/Canyon View) get quality work in our first series as freshmen."

The Storm's only scoring frame – the third – materialized again thanks to the leadoff walk. Ammon Zitting (Pleasant Grove. UT/Lone Peak) earned the free pass and moved to second on a Yuto Kata (Chiba, Japan/Juan Diego (Utah)) single. Colton Yack (South Jordan, UT/Bingham) loaded the bags with an infield hit. Johnson followed with an RBI hit to right. With two out, Andrade drew another walk, pushing across Kata with the eventual game winner.

Wade Broadstreet went the distance for ART U in the loss. He struck out four and surrendered five hits.

Dixie State continues PacWest play on February 17 at Grand Canyon. A doubleheader opening the four-game set begins at 4 p.m. MST from Brazell Stadium in Phoenix.

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