Wayne, Neb. — The Wayne State Baseball team used a walk-off double in the 8th inning to take game one 5-4 over the Mustangs. But the Mustangs would take game two, making it a split for the day in Wayne, Nebraska. Wayne State moves to 21-9 on the year with a 16-4 record in the NSIC. Southwest Minnesota State moves to 18-12 with a 12-9 NSIC record.
The Mustangs would get on the board first scoring of a sacrifice bunt in the top half of the first. The Wildcats would also tie it up in the bottom half of the inning following a Colin Lynam RBI double to right field to bring in Carter Thomas. The game would be tied 1-1 following the first inning.
The Mustangs would take the lead in the top half of the fifth inning following a Chase McDaniel RBI single and a Isaac Nett homerun to right center putting SMSU up 4-1. Wayne State would strike back in the bottom half of the fifth following a throwing error from SMSU to bring Thomas home, a double from Trey Wells that brought Chase Douglas in, and a sac fly from Quinn McCafferty to tie the game up 4-4 after five.
The Wildcats would get a pair of runners in the corners in the seventh inning behind a pair of Brayden Chaney stolen bases, but the Mustangs would get three strikeouts in a row to extend the game
Thomas would get on base with a single in the eighth for the Wildcats before Douglas would score the walk-off double to left center for the Wildcats and win the game by a score of 5-4.
Wayne State would score five runs off seven hits in the win while the Mustangs would score four runs on five hits and have one error in the loss.
Thomas would go 2-2 for the Wildcats in the win with three runs scored. Chase Douglas would also go 2-5 from the plate with a RBI, a double and a run scored. Colin Lynam would also have two hits going 2-4 from the plate and Trey Wells would have a hit also for the Wildcats in the win.
Braden Cannon would get the win for the Wildcats in relief moving him to 2-0 on the year. Jackson Shelburne got the start for WSC pitching four innings and producing three strikeouts. Eli Crnkovich and Brody Sintek would also pitch in relief for the Wildcats.
Southwest Minnesota State would dominate the second game of the series using ten hits to bring in 11 runs on the Wildcats.
SMSU would open with a Wenzel double to right center that brought in Nett to make it 1-0 after the top half of the first. The Wildcats would score their only run of the game in the bottom half of the inning following an RBI single from Wells that brought in Douglass.
The Mustangs would then go on to score four runs in the top of the third on five hits to extend their lead to 5-1. Thomas would record a hit for the wildcats in the bottom half of the third inning, bout would get caught up in a double play to leave the score 5-1 after three.
SMSU would score on a sac fly in the fifth that extend their lead to 6-1. Following the fifth, the Mustangs would score off a McDaniel 3 RBI home run down the right field line to make it 9-1 SMSU. The Mustangs would score two more runs in the inning and go on to win the game 11-1.
The Wildcats would score one run off five hits with one error in the loss while the Mustangs would score 11 runs off 11 hits in the win.
Wells would lead WSC going 2-3 from the plate with an RBI in the loss. McCafferty, Thomas and Blake Stanley would all record hits for WSC.
Kyler Hanson would pitch 2.1 innings for the Wildcats and be credited with the loss moving his record to 0-1 on the season. Josh Kilzer, Braden Sweet, Kadyn Van Hill and Alex Calabrese would all pitch in relief for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats are on the road this weekend for a three-game NSIC series at Concordia-St. Paul, facing the Golden Bears in a doubleheader Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and a nine-inning game Sunday to close out the series at 12 p.m.
