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-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Fort Dodge’s Tanner Peterson takes a grounder against Des Moines Roosevelt at Ed McNeil Fields in Fort Dodge on Wednesday

Des Moines Roosevelt had almost a full week to work on a four-game losing streak that came just before a lengthy layoff.

Rested and playing with a sense of urgency, the Roughriders got back on track Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep of the Fort Dodge baseball team at McNeil Field.

The scores were 5-0 and 4-0 in Roosevelt’s favor.

The Dodgers (14-13 overall) were riding high after an impressive win of their own over Twinbill on Monday against Mason City. That momentum was halted by the Roughriders (15-10), who rotated a few pitching gems and did just enough offensively to keep the distance on a perfect night at the ballpark.

“We just couldn’t get that ‘breakthrough hit’,” FDSH head coach Blake Utley said. “At the end of the day, you give their pitchers credit for getting the job done when it mattered most. We had our chances, but they worked their way out of them and made sure we might not get back (within striking distance).”

The Dodgers left two runners on base in the third, fourth and fifth inning of the opener. Roosevelt pitchers surrendered when it mattered most, recording twelve strikeouts, including seven looks.

The nightcap was more of the same. Fort Dodge again stranded eight runners – the same number as in game one – but struck out eleven times. Eight were on so-called third strikes.

“For the most part, our pitching and defense were good enough to keep us in it. We fought there Utley said. “We just needed more consistent, competitive at-bats, especially with runners on base. It’s hard to overcome that many strikeouts. But then again, (the Roughriders) obviously deserve a (hat tip) for some of that as well. They were pitching and playing with a purpose.

“It’s an experienced, senior-dominated ball club, and we have a lot of underclassmen (with as many as six freshmen and sophomores on the field at a time). It’s a learning process. We caught them in what ended up being a bad time (with both their recent issues and the fact that they had six straight days off).

Freshman Kolton Schiltz threw 3 innings of hitless relief in the first game. Freshmen Tru McBride and Tanner Peterson reached base twice, as did sophomore Jaxson Dencklau.

Peterson had two singles in the nightcap, with Dencklau and junior Royce Pederson reaching base twice.

Dencklau worked two innings of relief with three strikeouts. Junior Rylan Kingrey struck out the batter in the seventh.

Fort Dodge’s relievers logged six combined innings that night, allowing no earned runs with seven strikeouts.

Leadoff hitter Jake Espeland was a home run for the cycle in the opener for the Roughriders. He scored twice and flew to the wall in his last at bat. Espeland golfed a two-run double with two outs in the second to drive a pair.

Espeland also provided three innings of effective relief on the mound and struck out six.

Miles Lorentzen, Roosevelt’s ace, worked five shutout innings with seven Ks in the nightcap.

Fort Dodge is back in action on Saturday in Saydel. The Dodgers will play Des Moines Christian at 10 a.m. and Bettendorf at 12:30 p.m.

DM ROOSEVELT 5, FORT DODGE 0

Roosevelt 121 100 0 — 5 10 0

Fort Dodge 000 000 0 — 0 4 0

WP–George Bell; LP–Will McElroy. 2B – DMR: Jake Espeland, Jecari Patton. 3B – DMR: Jake Espeland. SB-DMR: Jake Espeland 3; FD: Rylan Kingrey.

DM ROOSEVELT 4, FORT DODGE 0

Roosevelt 110 110 0 — 4 11 0

Fort Dodge 000 000 0 — 0 4 2

WP – Miles Lorentzen; LP–Rylan Lara. 2B-DMR: Andrew Swanda 2, Evan Smithson.