Game 1 - Wayne State 9 Winona State 1

Game 2 - Winona State 6 Wayne State 5

            Freshman Braden Cannon went 5 for 8 at the plate with three RBIs and earned his sixth save of the season to help Wayne State split a Northern Sun Conference baseball doubleheader vs. Winona State Tuesday afternoon.  WSC won the opener 9-1 followed by a 6-5 Winona State victory in the nightcap in games that were moved to Wayne due to snow in southern Minnesota over the weekend.  Wayne State is now 18-18 and 12-10 in the league while Winona State is 19-20 and 15-9 in the NSIC.
            The opener was a 2-1 pitching battle until the Wildcats erupted for seven runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the 9-1 win.
            Cannon laced an RBI single down the left field line to score the first Wildcat run of the game in the second, brining home Quinn McCafferty (singled).  A Cade Lynam single later in the inning drove home Trey Wells (single) with the second run.
            Winona State scored their lone run in the third inning to make the score 2-1 and it stayed that way until the seventh inning when the 'Cats produced seven runs on five hits.  Hunter Babe had a two-run single while Cannon singled and scored on a Carter Thomas single for key hits in the inning.
            Sophomore lefthander Jacob Kneifl was stellar in his first collegiate start, allowing just one run on two hits over five innings with two strikeouts and two walks to improve to 2-0 on the season.  Cannon came on in the sixth and fired two scoreless innings to record his sixth save of the year.
            The second game saw the Warriors hold off a Wayne State rally to hang on for a 6-5 win.
            WSC opened the scoring with two runs in the first.  McCafferty had an RBI double to score Colin Lynam (single) while Thomas reached on an error and scored on a Hunter Babe sacrifice fly.
            The Warriors answered with two runs in the first, one in the second and three in the fourth for a 6-2 advantage.
            The 'Cats closed within one at 6-5 thanks to a three-run seventh.  Wells had an RBI single to bring home Colin Lynam (error).  Cade Lynam opened the inning with a single and scored when brother Colin reached on an error while the other run was the result of a McCafferty sacrifice fly that scored Thomas (walked).
            But that's as close as the 'Cats would get as Winona State held on for the 6-5 win.
            Both teams had 10 hits and four errors in the contest.  Cannon was the lone Wildcat player with multiple hits going 2 for 4.  McCafferty doubled for the lone extra base hit.
            Starter Brody Sintek (1-5) suffered the pitching loss in 3 2/3 innings work.  Kolt Davis pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief allowing just three hits while Josh Kilzer fired a scoreless final inning with one strikeout.
            Wayne State will host Concordia-St. Paul this weekend in a three-game NSIC series with a doubleheader set for Saturday at 12 p.m. followed by a nine-inning game Sunday at 12 p.m.