Pittsburg State 9 Wayne State 2

            Wayne State dropped their 2022 season opener in college baseball Saturday afternoon falling at Pittsburg State in Kansas by the score of 9-2.  The host Gorillas improve to 3-5 with the win while WSC falls to 0-1.
            Pittsburg State produced two runs with two outs and no runners in the first inning, benefitting from two walks and two hit batter by Wildcat starter Ryan Obrecht along with two hits for an early 2-0 lead.
            The Gorillas added two more runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-0 advantage.
            Wayne State scored both runs in the top of the fourth to make the score 4-2.  Designated hitter Nick Barnett laced a two-run single to center field that brought home Chris Cornish (single) and Andrew Hanson (walk).
            Pittsburg State took a 6-2 lead in the fifth producing two runs and added three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh to end with the 9-2 win.       
            The Gorillas had 11 hits in the game to six by the Wildcats.  Cornish was 2 for 3 with a double, single and one run scored.  Hanson, Barnett, Conner Fiene and Cam Madsen each added singles for WSC as Barnett had both Wildcat RBI's in the game.
            Starting pitcher Ryan Obrecht was tagged with the pitching loss in 2 2/3 innings of work.  Four other Wildcats saw relief action as freshman Jackson Shelburne pitched two innings.  Josh Renken worked 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief.  Freshman Jacob Kneifl pitched 2/3 innings of relief with Nick Oden working the final 1 1/3 innings.
            Wayne State and Pittsburg State play the second game of their three-game series at 1 p.m. in Pittsburg, Kansas Sunday afternoon.