Senior shortstop Quinn McCafferty was 5 for 8 at the plate with a home run and five RBI's to help Wayne State College split a Northern Sun Conference baseball doubleheader at the University of Mary Thursday afternoon in Bismarck, North Dakota.  The host Marauders captured the opener 8-5 followed by a Wildcat 8-6 win in the nightcap.  Both teams are now 12-11 on the season and 8-6 in conference play.
            In the opener, the host Marauders offset Wayne State's five-run third inning by scoring two runs in four different innings to down the Wildcats 8-5 despite WSC holding an 11-6 advantage in hits.
            UMary produced two runs in the first and second innings for a 4-0 advantage. 
            WSC responded with a five-run third inning to grab a 5-4 lead.  Max Heard accounted for a two-run single that brought home Connor Hunt (single) and Cam Madsen (double).  Following a walk to Taylor Gill, senior shortstop Quinn McCafferty blasted a three-run homer over the left field fence putting the Wildcats in front 5-4.
            The Marauders regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth scoring two runs, using four Wildcat walks and just one hit to score twice.  UMary added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on two hits and a pair of hit batters to close the scoring in the 8-5 victory.
            McCafferty was a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate with a homer and three RBI to lead the 'Cats at the plate.  Madsen went 3 for 4 with a double and run scored while Heard finished 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI's and one run scored.  Kaden Young also had two hits, both singles, in three plate appearances.
            Reliever Josh Kilzer (2-1), one of three Wildcat pitchers, suffered the loss on the mound allowing two runs in 2/3 innings of work on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts.  Starter Kyler Hanson worked the first four innings while senior reliever Eli Crnkovich pitched the final 1 1/3 innings.
            The second game the Wildcats use another five-run inning, this time in the fourth, to hold up for an 8-6 victory.
            Trailing 2-1 after three innings, WSC posted five runs on three hits and three UMary errors in the top of the fourth to take the lead at 6-2. 
            Catcher Casey Prychak led off the inning with a double followed by a walk to Connor Hunt.  Both players scored on a Chase Douglas two-run single up the middle.  Later in the inning McCafferty delivered a two-run single to left field that drove in Douglas and Madsen (reached on error) while the fifth run of the inning resulted on a sacrifice fly by Young that scored Gill, who reached on a UMary error.
            The Marauders battled back with one run in the fourth and three in the fifth to tie the score at 6-6.
            The 'Cats rallied with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to grab an 8-6 lead.  Douglas opened the sixth with a walk and scored on an RBI single by Gill for the first run while in the seventh Braden Cannon walked and later scored on a wild pitch putting WSC ahead 8-6.
            Relievers Keinan Lentell and Braden Cannon then shut the door on the Marauders the rest of the way to seal the 8-6 win.
            WSC held a 10-7 edge in hits over the Marauders.  Eight of nine starters had at least one hit for the Wildcats, led by McCafferty's 2 for 5 game with a pair of singles and two RBI.  Gill also went 2 for 5 with an RBI and run scored.  Young and Prychak each doubled while Douglas had two RBI and scored twice thanks to three walks and a single.
            Lentell (1-0), the second of three Wildcat pitchers, earned the pitching win with 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.  He allowed just one hit with four strikeouts.  Senior closer Braden Cannon worked the ninth inning to earn his third save of the year, giving up one hit with one strikeout.  Starter Brooks Kneifl pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the 'Cats.              
            The Wildcats and Marauders close out their four-game NSIC series Friday with a doubleheader at 12 p.m. in Bismarck, North Dakota.