Game 1- WSC 8 Upper Iowa 5 9 Innings
Game 2- WSC 17 Upper Iowa 1
The Wayne State College baseball team used an extra inning game-winning homer to win the first game and then scored a season-high 17 runs in the second game to sweep Upper Iowa 8-5 and 17-1 in Northern Sun Conference baseball played Thursday afternoon in Fayette, Iowa. The Wildcats move to 14-16 overall and 7-9 in the NSIC with the wins while Upper Iowa falls to 17-18 and 11-11 in league play.
In the first game, WSC rallied from a 5-1 deficit after five innings and used a three-run homer from Travis Parsons in extra innings to beat the Peacocks 8-5 in nine innings. After Upper Iowa took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, the Wildcats tied the score in the top of the fourth when Mike Bisenius led off with a double and later scored on a Nick Bidroski double to make the score 1-1.
Upper Iowa came up with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth inning to chase Wildcat starter Jerad Barth, taking a 5-1 lead. WSC responded with a four run inning of their own in the top of the sixth inning to tie the score again at 5-5. Mike Bisenius opened the inning with a double down the left field line followed by a walk to Travis Parsons. Both scored on a Jake Ritzdorf two run double down the left field line cutting the Peacock advantage to 5-3. Nick Bidroski, who singled, and Ritzdorf then scored when Braulio Acosta reached on a two out error by Upper Iowa to even the score at 5-5.
The score remained that way until the top of the ninth inning when the Wildcats put together a two out rally with no runners on to take the lead. Luke Farrar started the two out rally with a walk and then stole second. Mike Bisenius was then intentionally walked and then clean up hitter Travis Parsons followed with a three run homer to give WSC the 8-5 lead. Reliever Matt Meier shutdown the Peacocks in the ninth giving the Wildcats the come-from-behind win.
Upper Iowa had one more hit than WSC in the game 9-8. Parsons finished 2 for 4 with a homer, three RBI's and two runs scored to pace a balanced attack. Bisenius was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and three runs scored while Ritzdorf and Bidroski each contributed two hits in the win. Meier (1-0) picked up the win on the hill with 4 1/3 scoreless innings of stellar relief, allowing just three hits while striking out two and walking one. Starter Jerad Barth worked the opening 4 1/3 innings and was charged with four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Trevor Reeves pitched 1/3 of an inning, giving up one run with one walk.
The second game saw WSC use a seven run first inning to take control early in a 17-1 win over the Peacocks to complete the sweep. The Wildcats used seven hits to score the seven runs in the first inning. Big hits included a three-run double from Ritzdorf, an RBI double by Acosta and run scoring singles from Parsons, Bisenius and Patrick Burkhart. WSC added four more runs in the fourth inning to take an 11-0 lead. The 'Cats had just two hits in the inning, singles by Burkhart and Slade Bolles, but used two Upper Iowa errors to help score the four runs.
WSC took a 15-0 lead in the fifth inning with another four runs on three hits. Justin Beranek and Bisenius had back-to-back doubles followed by a single from Parsons for Wildcat hits in the inning.
The Wildcats matched their season-high with 17 hits in the contest. Burkhart was 3 for 4 for WSC with an RBI and a stolen base. Beranek was 2 for 4 with three runs scored. Parsons was also 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Bisenius was 2 for 5 with two RBI's and two runs scored.
Freshman Taylor Simmonds (1-0) earned his first collegiate win for the Wildcats, throwing 5 1/3 solid innings. He allowed eight hits and one run with eight strikeouts and three walks. Sophomore lefthander Tyler Hohenstein finished the game on the hill for WSC throwing 1 2/3 innings allowing no runs on one hit.
Wayne State will conclude their 10-game, seven day road trip with a four-game Northern Sun Conference series at Concordia-St. Paul Friday and Saturday with Friday's doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m.
