Game 1: Wayne State 11 UMD 7
Game 2: UMD 4 Wayne State 3
The Wayne State College baseball team split a pair of games Monday afternoon against Minnesota-Duluth, downing the Bulldogs 11-7 in the first game and falling 4-3 in the second game. Wayne State hit six home runs on the afternoon with six different Wildcats going deep on the day. WSC is now 10-12 overall and 6-2 in the NSIC after the doubleheader. Minnesota-Duluth is now 11-11 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
Minnesota-Duluth jumped out to an early lead in the first game when Tyler Erickson belted a triple to right center. Orry Engebretsen hit a sacrifice fly that scored Erickson to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. The UMD lead would last until the third inning when Wildcat senior John Plasha blasted a three run homer to left field to give Wayne State a 3-1 advantage.
The Bulldogs would battle back in the top of the fourth inning when Brian Burman hit a homerun and Jake Kluver hit an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. Freshman Justin Beranek started out the fifth inning with a double to right center field. Junior Nick Bidroski would then walk and Plasha's single loaded the bases. Beranek would score on a wild pitch and then sophomore Mike Bisenius connected on a three run shot to left center field to give the 'Cats a 7-2 lead. Wayne State would add a run in the sixth when Joe Wendte hit solo shot to give WSC a 8-2 lead.
But the Bulldogs came right back scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Wildcats' lead to 8-7. Wayne State secured the win with three insurance runs in the eighth as with two men on base Jarett Jackson gave the Wildcats breathing room when he turned on a pitch that went flying over the left field fence to give the Wildcats an 11-7 lead. WSC's bullpen did the rest of the work as the Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs 11-7.
Wayne State had 13 hits in the first game with Beranek going 3 for 3 with two doubles. Treye Hacker was 3 for 5 in the game. Tom Doran (3-1) got the win going six innings giving up six runs and nine hits. Reid Lancaster pitched two innings giving up one run and Josh Nelsen pitched a scoreless ninth inning for WSC.
In the second game, WSC would get on the board first when the left-handed hitting Bidroski hit an opposite field home run to give Wayne State a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs would tie it in the second inning when Matt Uher hit a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Threlkeld. Minnesota-Duluth took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning only to see that lead disappear when Josh Nielsen went deep in the bottom of the inning for Wayne State to tie the game at 2-2.
The Bulldogs would take the lead in the top of the fifth inning when Erickson scored on a double to right center field off of the bat of Will Dahlgren. In the top of the seventh UMD would add another run when Engebretsen reached on an error and Dahlgren smacked another double that scored Engebretsen to give the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead. The Wildcats battled back in the bottom of the seventh inning, pinch hitter Plasha hit a single followed by a walk by Wendte. Beranek was plunked to load the bases for Bidroski. UMD pitcher Anders Engberg walked Bidroski scoring Plasha to cut the Bulldog's lead to 4-3, but Engberg struck out Jackson to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 victory avoiding a four game sweep.
The Wildcats had six hits in game two with Bidroski going 2 for 3 with two RBI's. Freshman Michael Frericks (0-1) took the loss for the Wildcats pitching five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits. Trevor Reeves pitched the final two innings for WSC giving up two hits.
Wayne State will head to St. Paul, Minnesota Thursday and Friday to play Concordia-St. Paul in a pair of conference doubleheaders starting at 12:00 p.m. WSC will host Augustana in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 6th at 1:00 p.m. at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex.
