EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The 2010 season came to an end for the Wayne State University baseball team on Friday afternoon, as the Warriors (32-20) were eliminated from the NCAA Midwest Regional following a 12-10 loss to the University of Southern Indiana (45-12).

Wayne State fell behind 6-1 in the third inning but continued to battle, scoring three times in the fourth, sixth and ninth innings.

Six Warriors finished with at least two hits, as WSU totaled 15 hits altogether but came out on the short end of Friday's slugfest.

Paul LaMantia (Tecumseh, Ont./St. Anne's) went 3-for-4 with walk and a run scored, John Skaggs (Adrian, Mich.) hit a solo homer as part of a 2-for-4 performance with two RBI and two runs, and Brad Guenther (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline) collected two hits and three RBI.

Dylan Mooney, whose two-run shot in the eighth provided the difference in the final score, and Brad Vance each homered for USI as part of multiple-hit efforts. Vance also doubled, scored twice and drove in four.

The Warriors and Screaming Eagles combined to use nine pitchers in the game. Taylor Dennis (9-1) allowed seven runs on 11 hits in 5.0 innings, while Brady Cooper (Allen Park, Mich.) was knocked out of his final collegiate start after 2.2 innings. Cooper (6-4) allowed six runs on six hits, walking one and fanning four.

Skaggs' solo shot in the second gave WSU its only lead of the game, as USI went on to put up six runs on seven hits in the third. A sacrifice fly by Michael Huling made it a 7-1 game in the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth, RBIs by Skaggs, Jamie Bailey (Petrolia, Ont./Lambton) and Guenther narrowed the deficit, but Vance's three-run homer to left in the fifth countered WSU rally effort.

Kyle Vesey (Brighton, Mich.) drove in a run in the sixth, and Guenther later followed with a two-run single as Wayne State trailed, 10-7, heading into the seventh.

Josh Wedesky (Fowlerville, Mich.), who worked a total of three innings in relief, retired eight straight Eagles until Huling doubled and Mooney homered to right in the eighth.

Wayne State loaded the bases with one out in the ninth as Andrew Ciennik (Waterford, Mich./Mott) singled, Ryan LaPensee (LaSalle, Ont./St. Thomas of Villanova) was hit by a pitch and LaMantia walked. A double by Michael Wiseman (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland) brought in two runs, and a sacrifice fly by Alex Trojan (Fenton, Mich./Hartland) made it a two-run game.

USI closer Wandy Rosario put an end to the rally, however, and earned his 12th save of the season.

Despite the early exit from their third NCAA Regional appearance since 2005, the Warriors finished with 32 wins in 2010, tied for second-most in program history.

NOTES
Wayne State is 1-4 all-time against Southern Indiana … LaPensee (.424), the only Warrior in program history to hit over .400 three times, and LaMantia (.415) are just the seventh set of teammates at WSU to finish a season with a .400-plus average … LaPensee also played in his 200th career game Friday, the only Wayne State player in history to reach that mark … Guenther led the Warriors with a .444 average (8-18) in the postseason, followed by Bailey at .412 (7-17) … Ciennik ended the season on a nine-game hitting streak … the Warriors were 9-3 this season when scoring at least 10 runs.