March 29, 2009
Game 1 - #29 Wayne State 10 Minnesota Duluth 4
Game 2 - #29 Wayne State 12 Minnesota Duluth 6
#29 Wayne State College finished off a four-game sweep of Minnesota Duluth with 10-4 and 12-6 wins over the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon in Wayne. With the wins, Wayne State improved to 17-6 overall and 8-0 in the NSIC. Minnesota Duluth dropped to 8-16 overall and 0-4 in the NSIC with the losses.
In game one, Wayne State jumped on Minnesota Duluth early with four runs in the top of the first inning. The ‘Cats used three hits and two Minnesota Duluth errors to take the early 4-0 lead. Treye Hacker had an RBI double while Joe Wendte and Mike Bisenius each had RBI singles to highlight the first inning for WSC. WSC added another run in the top of the second when Justin Hemauer scored on a wild pitch to give WSC a 5-0 lead. The ‘Cats added three more runs in the top of the third inning to increase the lead to 8-0. Hacker led off the inning with a homerun. John Plasha singled and later scored on a Minnesota Duluth throwing error, and Eric Bond added an RBI single in the Wildcat third inning. Minnesota Duluth got on the board in the bottom of the third inning with one run to make the score 8-1. The Bulldogs added three more runs in the sixth inning to cut the Wildcat lead to four at 8-4. However, WSC added two more runs in the top of the seventh on RBI singles by Seth Chadick and Josh Yost to make the final score 10-4.
Wayne State had 13 hits in the contest compared to nine for UMD, and Minnesota Duluth had three errors in the game. Treye Hacker went 3 for 4 with two RBI’s and Eric Bond went 2 for 3 with an RBI to lead the way offensively for Wayne State in game one. John Snyder improved to 4-0 on the year for WSC on the mound. Snyder allowed four runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts in six innings of work. Brian Burman went 2 for 2 with a homer and two RBI’s to lead the way for Duluth in the loss. David Olson and Tyler Erickson each added two hits for the Bulldogs. Mark Shaver took the loss on the mound for UMD and is 1-1 on the season. Shaver allowed eight runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Game two saw Wayne State score 10 runs in the final two innings to rally for the 12-6 win over the Bulldogs. After Wayne State took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Nick Bidroski in the top of the first inning, Minnesota Duluth responded with five runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 5-1 lead. Brian Burman’s second homer of the day, a two-run shot to left center, highlighted the five-run first inning for the Bulldogs. Minnesota Duluth added a run in the second inning on a Wayne State throwing error to make the score 6-1. Wayne State added a single run in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by Josh Yost to make the score 6-2. The score remained the same until the top of the sixth inning when Wayne State scored four runs to tie the game at 6-6. Treye Hacker had a two-run single, and Nick Bidroski and Joe Wendte each added RBI singles for the ‘Cats in the sixth inning.
After Minnesota Duluth went in order in the bottom of the sixth inning, Wayne State erupted for six runs on four hits and two Minnesota Duluth errors to take a 12-6 lead. Wendte had a two-run double, Alex Koch added an RBI double, and Jake Ritzdorf had an RBI single for Wayne State in the big seventh inning. The Bulldogs were unable to rally in the bottom of the seventh, and WSC completed the sweep with the 12-6 win.
Joe Wendte went 2 for 3 with three RBI’s and three runs scored to lead Wayne State offensively in the win. Nick Bidroski and Treye Hacker each added two hits and two RBI’s for the ‘Cats. Trenton Lee struck out five batters in the final two innings to earn his first win of the season on the mound for WSC. Brian Burman went 2 for 4 with a homer and two RBI’s for the Bulldogs in game two. Ben Jungers (1-2) took the loss on the mound for UMD, allowing two runs and two hits in 2/3 of an inning of work.
Wayne State will play at Northwest Missouri State Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference nine inning game starting at 2 p.m. followed by a home non-conference matchup against Briar Cliff on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex in Wayne.