Game 1 - Wayne State 2 Mary 0
Game 2 - Wayne State 5 Mary 4
Sophomore pitcher Tadd Johansen fired a no-hitter in the opener and Wayne State scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning in the second game to complete a 2-0 and 5-4 Northern Sun Conference baseball sweep over the University of Mary Saturday afternoon in Bismarck, North Dakota. It was the fifth no-hitter in WSC baseball history and the first for the Wildcats since 2009 when John Snyder and Reid Lancaster combined for a no-hitter in a 16-0 win at Minnesota, Crookston on May 3, 2009. It was the first no-hitter thrown by the same pitcher since Brady Borner no-hit Minnesota Morris in the 2001 season. WSC is now 12-10 on the season and 5-3 in the NSIC while Mary drops to 5-15 overall and 1-9 in the NSIC.
The story of the first game was the pitcher of Tadd Johansen. The 6-3 lefthander from Elkhorn, Nebraska faced the minimum of 21 batters in the seven inning contest, striking out five while walking one batter in the fourth inning. That runner was erased on a double play to end the inning.
WSC scored one run in the second inning and another in the seventh. In the second inning, Nick Bidroski singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on Taylor Welk's one-out single to right centerfield. Bidroski then scored on a Jake Ritzdorf sacrifice bunt for a 1-0 Wildcat lead. WSC added an insurance run in the seventh inning when Pat Burkhart singled to third base and later scored on a Travis Parsons RBI single to make the score 2-0.
The Wildcats had seven hits in the game led by Burkhart going 2 for 4 with a run scored. Mike Bisenius, Parsons, Bidroski, Welk and Jake Ritzdorf each added hits in the win.
Johansen improved to 3-2 on the season with his third complete game win in five starts with his no-hitter.
The second game saw Wayne State score three runs in the final two innings to rally for a 5-4 win over the Marauders to complete the sweep. WSC opened the scoring with a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Bisenius connected on a two-out solo homer to put the Wildcats in front early. Mary tied the score in the bottom of the second at 1-1 but WSC came right back to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning as Bisenius was hit by the pitch and later scored on a Justin Beranek single for a 2-1 WSC lead.
Mary scored twice in the fourth and another in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead and the score remained that way until the eighth inning when WSC scored one run to cut the Marauder lead to 4-3. Justin Beranek singled and later scored on a double play. In the ninth inning, WSC scored two runs on just one hit and one Marauder error to take the 5-4 lead. The lone hit in the inning was a leadoff bunt single by Braulio Acosta. Bisenius walked and then Acosta advanced to third on a wild pitch. A Travis Parsons sacrifice fly to left field scored Acosta to tie the score at 4-4. Bisenius then stole second and advanced to third on a ground out by Bidroski. Beranek was then hit by the pitch to put runners at first and third and the game-winning run was scored by Bisenius on a delayed steal giving WSC the 5-4 win.
Wayne State had 10 hits in the game to just four by Mary. Acosta and Beranek were each 2 for 4 with a run scored while Bisenius homered and scored three runs to pace the Wildcats. Sophomore reliever Jerad Barth (2-0) picked up the win, working the final 5 1/3 innings and allowing just two hits and one run with four strikeouts and one walk. Starter Eric Schwieger pitched the initial 3 2/3 innings and was charged with three runs (all unearned) on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts. The Wildcats won the game despite making five errors while holding Mary to just four hits.
Wayne State is scheduled to close out the four-game Northern Sun Conference series against Mary with a doubleheader on Sunday at noon in Bismarck, North Dakota.
