The Wayne State College baseball team dropped their Northern Sun Conference openers to Minnesota Crookston Sunday afternoon by scores of 6-3 and 21-5.  The games were moved to Frerichs Legion Field in Elkhorn due to cold and wet field conditions in Wayne.  UMC is now 12-8 and 2-0 in the league while WSC is 6-10 and 0-2.
            The opener was a pitcher's duel early featuring Wayne State's Corbin Kirk and Minnesota Crookston's Jake Dykhoff.  Both teams had just five hits in the contest, but UMC used a three-run homer in the third to set the tone for the rest of the game as the Golden Eagles topped the Wildcats.
            UMC held a 5-0 lead entering the bottom of the fifth when the Wildcats got on the board thanks to a two-run homer from freshman Carter Thomas to cut the Golden Eagle advantage to 5-2.
            WSC got another run in the sixth thanks to a solo blast from catcher Trey Wells to make the score 5-3, but Minnesota Crookston got an insurance run in the top of the seventh for a 6-3 final score.
            Freshman shortstop Quinn McCafferty was 2 for 4 with a double at the plate.  Thomas and Wells each homered while Tommy Roland recorded the other Wildcat hit.
            Kirk (0-2) was tagged with the pitching loss, working 4 2/3 innings.  He struck out seven and walked five while allowing five runs on four hits.  Kolt Davis worked the remaining 2 1/3 innings and gave up just one run on one hit.
            The second game belonged to the Golden Eagles as Minnesota Crookston produced 21 runs on 20 hits including six home runs as UMC completed the sweep with a 21-5 win.
            The game was back and forth for the first six innings until a late scoring explosion by UMC where the Golden Eagles scored four runs in the seventh and nine more in the eighth.
            UMC held a 7-5 lead after four innings and was ahead 8-5 after six.
            McCafferty had another big game for WSC at the plate in the second game, going 3 for 4 with three RBI that included a two-run homer in the fourth inning.  Braden Cannon doubled and scored two runs while Nate Cunningham and Noah Strizek each had hits for WSC.
            Wayne State used seven pitchers in the contest.  Senior starter Ryan Obrecht (3-1) suffered the loss in 3 2/3 innings of work.
            The two teams close out their three-game NSIC series Monday at 12 p.m. with a nine-inning contest back at Frerichs Legion Field in Elkhorn.