Game 1 - Wayne State 4 Minot State 1 (9 inn.)

Game 2 - Minot State 6 Wayne State 4

            Wayne State College used a walk-off homer from Nate Ackerman in the opener to salvage a split with Minot State in the Northern Sun Conference baseball opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex in Wayne.  The Wildcats took the opener 4-1 in nine innings while Minot State scored twice in the top of the seventh to capture the nightcap 6-4.  WSC is now 6-8 and 1-1 in league play while MISU is 4-9 and 1-1 in the NSIC.
            The first game saw Ackerman deliver his heroics in extra innings to give the Wildcats a 4-1 win.
            Both runs scored in regulation were unearned runs.  WSC scored in the bottom of the first when Aaron Krier reached on a Beaver fielding error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Herman for a 1-0 lead. 
            The score stayed that way until the sixth inning when Minot State scored an unearned run with two outs and no runners on base to send the game into extra innings tied at 1-1.
            In the WSC ninth, Kevin Andersen reached on a Minot State throwing error and Curtis Bussard was intentionally walked with one out.  After Aaron Krier grounded out to third, Ackerman sent a 1-2 pitch from Minot State reliever Mark LaCroix over the left field fence for the dramatic 4-1 win.
            Minot State had one more hit than WSC 6-5.  Ackerman was 3 for 5 with three RBI's while Nick McIntee and Andersen each singled.
            Junior reliever Kyle Kennebeck (2-1) earned the win in relief, highlighted by getting out of a bases loaded jam with one out in the top of the ninth.  He worked the ninth inning and was charged with one hit and one walk.
            Starter Eric Browning pitched eight strong innings, giving up five hits and one run (unearned) with six strikeouts and two walks.
            The second game saw Minot State score two runs in the top of the seventh off Wildcat closer Curtis Bussard to collect a split with a 6-4 win.
            Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the sixth, WSC tied the score at 4-4 when Herman singled through the left side to score Ackerman and Krier.
            But the Beavers took advantage of two walks and then used a two-run double by Jared Young to grab the 6-4 win.
            WSC outhit Minot State in the second game 8-6.  Krier was 2 for 3 with a double while Chris May added two singles going 2 for 3 at the plate.  Ackerman doubled while Bussard, Herman and Albert Johnson each singled.
            Bussard (0-3) suffered the pitching loss, charged with two runs in the seventh on one hit and two walks.  Starter Matt Schulz pitched the first 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks while senior reliever John Roberts pitched 1 2/3 innings and gave up one hit with two strikeouts.
            Wayne State and Minot State meet again Sunday in a noon doubleheader at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex.