SAVANNAH, Ga. - In the 2011 season opener, the Wayne State University baseball team lost by a narrow 3-2 margin to the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the first game of the Armstrong Atlantic Savannah Invitational.

The Warriors scored a run in the seventh inning and another in the ninth to try and erase a 3-0 deficit but came up short. Andrew Ciennik (Waterford, Mich./Mott) and Caleb Dalman (Hudsonville, Mich.) led WSU with two hits apiece, and starting pitcher Tyler Loehr (Brighton, Mich.) allowed just one earned run on three hits in 6.2 innings.

The Tritons took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, and scored twice in the seventh aided by a WSU error. Wayne State began to chip away as Ryan Buter (North Muskegon, Mich.), making his WSU debut as the designated hitter, hit a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.

Loehr walked four but struck out five before giving way to Billy Hurley (Mississauga, Ont./St. Aloysius Gonzaga), who tossed 2.1 scoreless innings and surrendered just one walk with a pair of strikeouts.

An RBI double by Dalman in the bottom of the ninth brought in Kyle Vesey (Brighton, Mich.), who led off the frame with a double. The comeback was cut short by a double play, as the Warriors dropped their season opener for the first time in three years.

Wayne State will face Queens (N.Y.) in a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 11:00 a.m.

NOTES
Friday's game was scheduled for 12:30 p.m. but began nearly two hours late due to rain … others besides Buter making their WSU debuts were right fielder #C.J. Maszal# (Allen Park, Mich.), who went 1-for-4, and first baseman Bobby Thomas (Northville, Mich.), who finished 0-for-4 … Ciennik has a 10-game hitting streak carrying over from last season.