Game 1 - Wayne State 16 Concordia-St. Paul 6
Game 2 - Wayne State 6 Concordia-St. Paul 3
The Wayne State College baseball team used a season-high 19 hits in the opener and a complete game win from Eric Schwieger in the second game to sweep Concordia-St. Paul 16-6 and 6-3 Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Conference baseball played in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Wildcats, who won six road games in three days, improve to 18-16 overall and 11-9 in the NSIC while Concordia-St. Paul is now 14-11 and 8-8 in league play.
Junior shortstop Braulio Acosta went 5 for 5 with four RBI's and WSC rallied from a 6-4 deficit after five innings to pull away for a 16-6 win over the Golden Bears in the first game. After trailing 2-0 entering the second inning, the 'Cats scored three runs on five hits to take a 3-2 lead. Pat Burkhart, Justin Beranek and Mike Bisenius each produced run-scoring singles in the inning. CSP evened the score at 3-3 with a single run in the bottom of the second. WSC then took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning Burkhart singled and later scored on a Golden Bear throwing error.
Concordia-St. Paul regained the lead with three runs in the fifth inning for a 6-4 Golden Bear advantage. But WSC sent 12 men to the plate in the sixth inning, scoring eight runs on seven hits, to grab a 12-6 lead. Bisenius hit a solo homer and a two-run double in the big inning. Beranek added an RBI double while Acosta and Luke Farrar each added RBI singles in the inning. WSC added four more runs in the seventh inning to make the final score 16-6 with Acosta's three run homer the big hit in the inning.
WSC finished the game with a season-high 19 hits, led by Acosta's five-hit game that included a homer and double. Bisenius was a perfect 3 for 3 with four RBI's while Farrar and Burkhart accounted for three hits apiece in the win. Senior Reid Lancaster earned the pitching win, moving to 4-2 on the season. The Norfolk, Nebraska native allowed six runs on 11 hits over five innings, walking one and striking out one. Matt Meier threw the final two innings, giving up two hits with one strikeout.
The second game saw sophomore lefthander Eric Schwieger pitch his third complete game of the season shutting down the Golden Bears in a 6-3 win to complete the four-game sweep.
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead with a two-out rally as Bisenius singled and scored on a Nick Bidroski double with Bidroski coming in on a Slade Bolles single. The 'Cats pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Farrar's single scored Jake Ritzdorf with Farrar later scoring on a RBI groundout from Beranek. Concordia-St. Paul got back into the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with three runs on three hits and one WSC error to cut the Wildcat lead to 4-3.
Wayne State scored twice in the eighth inning to push the lead back to three at 6-3. Beranek and Bisenius opened the inning with singles. A Bidroski groundout brought home Beranek while Bisenius scored on a Bolles double down the left field line to account for the Wildcat runs.
The Wildcats finished with 10 hits in the game to nine for CSP. Bisenius, Bidroski and Bolles each went 2 for 4 at the plate in the win with Bidroski and Bolles both recording doubles and two RBI's. Bisenius had two singles and scored two runs. Schwieger improved to 2-3 on the season with the complete game gem, allowing nine hits and three runs (two earned) with five strikeouts and one walk.
Wayne State will be at home Tuesday afternoon hosting Winona State (24-9, second place in the NSIC at 18-4) in a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex.
