Wayne State 2 #3 Minnesota State 1

            Just four days after suffering a four-game sweep at Minnesota State, the Wayne State baseball team got sweet revenge on the Mavericks Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the 2014 NSIC Baseball Tournament as the Wildcats posted a shocking 2-1 win over NSIC regular season champion Minnesota State at Karras Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  With the win, the 26-22 Wildcats now advance to the winner's bracket semi-finals on Thursday at 2 p.m. to face Winona State, a 5-2 winner over Concordia-St. Paul, while Minnesota State, ranked third in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Top 30 Coaches Poll, falls to 40-8 on the season.
            Wayne State sophomore First Team All-NSIC starting pitcher Eric Browning out-dueled NSIC Pitcher of the Year Jason Hoppe from Minnesota State in a game that saw the Wildcats make the most of their four hits.  The Wildcats then escaped a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth to hold on for the dramatic win.
            Minnesota State opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with one run on just one hit. 
            Wayne State scored both runs in the second inning on just one hit.  Junior third baseman Michael Herman reached first base on a third strike, wild pitch.  He then scored on a Jake Perez double to right center field that tied the score at 1-1.  Perez moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a John Roberts groundout to first base to give the 'Cats a 2-1 lead.
            Starter Eric Browning shut out the Mavericks the rest of the way with sophomore closer Curtis Bussard pitching the ninth inning.
            The Mavericks threatened to tie the score or even win the game in the ninth inning against Bussard as the Mavericks used a walk, a two-out single and another walk to load the bases.  But Bussard got MSU's Parker Sullivan to strike out looking to end the game, giving Bussard his ninth save of the season to tie a school record set by Dustin Nilius in the 2005 season.
            Wayne State had just four hits in the game by two different players as freshman Jake Perez was 2 for 3 with a double and RBI while senior second baseman Mike Servais was also 2 for 3 with a double and single.
            Eric Browning improved to 8-3 on the season with eight strong innings of work.  He gave up six hits and one run with three strikeouts and one walk.  Bussard collected his ninth save of the season by pitching the ninth inning, charged with one hit and two walks while striking out two batters.