Wayne, Neb. — Wayne State built a 3-0 lead, then held off a furious St. Cloud State rally in the final two innings as the Wildcats held on for a 3-2 victory Wednesday afternoon in the opening game at the 2024 Northern Sun Conference Baseball Tournament in Bismarck, North Dakota. The fifth-seeded Wildcats improve to 27-21 with the win while the fourth-seeded Huskies drop to 32-18.
The game was a pitcher’s battle early between Wildcat lefthander Corbin Kirk and SCSU lefthander Kaden Pfeffer.
Wayne State opened the scoring in the second inning when leadoff batter Kyler Essink belted a solo home run over the left field fence for a 1-0 Wildcat lead.
The ‘Cats had two hits in the fifth inning as Nate Cunningham and Cam Madsen both singled, but were left stranded at second and third base.
WSC got two more hits again in the sixth but scored this time. Quinn McCafferty and Trey Wells each singled to left field. McCafferty later scored on a wild pitch with two outs giving the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage.
Wayne State scored again in the eighth inning without a hit as Chase Douglas walked, advanced to second and third on wild pitches and came home on a Colin Lynam sacrifice fly for a 3-0 ‘Cats lead.
St. Cloud State battled back in the bottom of the eighth inning against three different Wildcat pitchers. Kirk allowed a leadoff single and following a fielder’s choice was replaced by junior lefthander Jacob Kneifl.
Following a line out, St. Cloud State used a two-run homer to get on the scoreboard with two outs in the eighth and reduce the Wildcat lead to 3-2.
Sophomore closer Braden Cannon then replaced Kneifl and after giving up a single and double got a line out to get out of the eighth inning with Wayne State clinging to a 3-2 lead.
The ‘Cats put two runners on in the ninth with a walk to Kaden Young and single by Madsen, but the rally ended on a double play.
SCSU got the leadoff batter on base in the ninth on a single, but Cannon got the next three batters retired on a line out and pair of pop-ups as the ‘Cats held on for the 3-2 victory.
St. Cloud State held a 9-6 edge in hits over WSC. Madsen had a pair of singles to lead the ‘Cats at the plate. Essink’s solo homer in the second was the lone extra base hit for WSC. McCafferty, Wells and Cunningham also had hits for the Wildcats.
Kirk worked 7 1/3 innings to get the win for WSC, now 6-2 on the season. He yielded five hits and one run with four strikeouts and two walks. Kneifl worked 1/3 of an inning while Cannon closed the contest for his sixth save of the season, giving up three hits.
Wayne State now faces #9 Augustana in the winner’s bracket semi-finals on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Bismarck, North Dakota.
