Friday, May 15, 2009
#26 Wayne State 28 Southwest Minnesota State 12
Wayne State College posted mammoth numbers Friday evening in manhandling Southwest Minnesota State 28-12 in the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II Central Region Baseball Tournament in Grand Junction, Colorado. The 26th-ranked Wildcats improved to 44-13 with the win and now face top-seeded and 29th-ranked Mesa State in the winner's bracket final on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Central Time after the Mavericks outlasted New Mexico Highlands on Friday 15-13. The WSC/SMSU game last three hours and 25 minutes and featured a combined 40 runs with 48 hits between the two Northern Sun Conference teams that were facing each other for the first time this season.
The Wildcats set several NCAA Division II Tournament records in the offensive onslaught. The 32 hits are two more than the previous mark of 30 held by three different teams, (Valdosta State-1985, Lewis (Ill.)-1990 and Cal State Los Angeles in 2007). The 27 runs batted in tied a record held by Delta State in 1981 and Florida Southern in 1985. The 28 runs was just one shy of the record 29 runs scored by Florida Southern vs. Florida Atlantic in 1985 and the 13-run sixth inning was one run shy of the 14 runs scored by SIU-Edwardsville vs. Adelphi in 1997.
Individually, senior outfielder Justin Hemauer set a new single game NCAA Division II Tournament record for hits by going 7 for 8 at the plate. The previous record of six hits in a game was held by five different players and most recently set in 2004 by Jud Thigpen of Delta State.
Wayne State scored two runs in the first, nine in the third, three in the fifth, 13 runs in the sixth inning and one in the ninth to finish the game with 28 runs on 32 hits. In two tournament games, the Wildcats have produced 39 runs on 53 hits after recording a previous season-high 21 hits in Thursday's 11-3 win over New Mexico Highlands.
In the first inning, Joe Wendte belted a solo homer while Justin Hemauer tripled and scored on Eric Bond's sacrifice fly for an early 2-0 lead. After SMSU scored in the bottom of the first to make it a 2-1 score, WSC took control of the game by scoring nine runs in the third inning sending 14 batters to the plate. Bond had a two-run homer and Hemauer hit a two-run single for big hits in the inning while Wendte, Josh Yost and Brandon Polk each contributed run-scoring singles to give WSC an 11-1 lead after three innings.
Wayne State added three more runs in the fifth inning with John Plasha's two-run single highlighting the inning to push the Wildcat lead to 14-3 after five innings. In the sixth inning, Wayne State sent 18 batters to the plate and scored 13 runs on 14 hits in the inning to blow the game wide open. Eric Bond hit his second homer of the night, a two-run shot, and later added an RBI single in the same inning while Brandon Polk connected on a three-run double for big hits in the inning. Nick Bidroski and John Plasha each had a pair of RBI singles in the inning as well as WSC held a 27-3 lead after 6 ½ innings. Southwest Minnesota State plated four runs in the seventh and added three more in the eighth off WSC reliever Trenton Lee to make the score 27-10.
Offensively, Hemauer's record-setting night going 7 for 8 at the plate led a Wildcat offense that saw every starter produce at least two hits in the win. Junior shortstop Eric Bond was 4 for 7 with two homers, five RBI's and four runs scored. His two homers pushed his season total to 18, matching the single season WSC home run record set by Bill Schwartz in the 1981 season with 18. Joe Wendte was 5 for 7 with a homer, four RBI's and five runs scored. John Plasha was 4 for 7 with four RBI's and three runs scored.
Freshman starting pitcher Austen Wisroth (8-1) was the beneficiary of the excessive run support by the Wildcats and earned the win on the mound, allowing seven runs on 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Trenton Lee worked one inning of relief, giving up three runs on one hit with two walks and two strikeouts while freshman lefthander Eric Schwieger finished the game, working 1 1/3 innings and yielding two runs on four hits with one strikeout and no walks.
