Box Score 1 | Box Score 2             The Wayne State baseball team moved into a tie for third place in the Northern Sun Conference standings Friday afternoon with a sweep at St. Cloud State by scores of 8-7 and 11-6.  The 'Cats are now 22-16 and 18-11 in the NSIC while St. Cloud State slips to 20-19 and 16-13 in league games.
            The opener saw the Wildcats build several early leads, then hang on for an 8-7 win over the Huskies.
            Sophomore Max Heard opened the Wildcat first with a two-run homer followed by an RBI single from Braden Cannon for a three-run first.
            St. Cloud State got one run back in the bottom of the frame, but WSC answered with another run in the top of the second when Brayden Chaney walked and later scored on a wild pitch. 
            The Huskies cut the WSC lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the second, but WSC exploded for four runs on just two hits in the top of the fourth to grab an 8-2 lead.  Chaney opened the inning with a single and scored on Cam Madsen's double.  Madsen scored on a passed ball for the second run while Cannon's bases-loaded walk and a bases-loaded hit batter by Casey Prychak resulted in the other two runs.
            SCSU responded with a four-run bottom of the fourth to cut the Wildcat lead to 8-6.
            The score stayed 8-6 until the bottom of the seventh when the Huskies rallied with one run and had the tying run on base at third, but closer Braden Cannon got the final out on a strikeout to hang on for the 8-7 win.
            Both teams had seven hits in the contest.  Heard's two-run homer led the way for WSC while Chase Douglas and Cam Madsen each doubled.
            Starting pitcher Jackson Shelburne worked three innings, allowing six runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.  Reliever Conlin Grady pitched the next 2 1/3 innings for the win, now 2-1 on the season.  He did not allow a run while giving up two hits with one strikeout.  Cannon closed the game with his seventh save of the year, throwing the final 1 2/3 innings giving up one run with two strikeouts. 
            The nightcap saw the Wildcats take control of the game with a pair of four-run innings in the fourth and fifth to complete the sweep with an 11-6 victory. 
            WSC opened the scoring in the second on a solo homer from Cannon for a 1-0 lead.
            The host Huskies scored twice in the second for a 2-1 advantage, but the Wildcats broke loose for back-to-back four run innings in the fourth and fifth and another run in the sixth to take a 10-2 lead.
            The 'Cats had just two hits in the fourth – a two-run single from Heard and a single by Kaden Young – but used three walks and a hit batter by SCSU pitching to score four runs.  Four more runs for WSC in the fifth highlighted by doubles from Quinn McCafferty and Cam Madsen.
            The streak of nine unanswered runs ended in the sixth without a hit as WSC used two walks and two hit batters to score another run for a 10-2 lead.
            St. Cloud State scored two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings to reduce the Wildcat lead to 10-6, but WSC got one run back in the top of the eighth pushing the advantage to 11-6 as Prychak doubled and scored when Chaney reached on a Husky error and that was the final run of the game.
            WSC held a 10-7 edge in hits over SCSU, but took advantage of eight walks and four hit batters by Husky pitching.  Madsen was 2 for 3 with two runs scored on a double and single.  McCafferty also had a multi-hit game with a double and single.  Cannon homered while Prychak and Douglas each added doubles. 
            Starter Clay Beaumont (3-1) earned the pitching win with 5 1/3 innings of work, allowing just one hit and four runs (two earned) with five walks and four strikeouts. 
            The 'Cats and Huskies conclude their three-game NSIC series Saturday at 12 p.m. with a nine-inning game.