BOXSCORES:  GAME 1  |  GAME 2

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - After having yesterday's games rained out, the Wayne State University baseball team (3-3) officially began play at the RussMatt Invitational on Friday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader against Mansfield University (5-3).

The teams were locked into two pitching duels, as the Mountaineers took game one, 2-1, but the Warriors responded with a 1-0 victory in the second game.

In the opener, the Warriors had the potential tying run at third base with less than two outs in the final two innings but were unable to bring them in.

All of the scoring was confined to the fourth inning, as Mansfield totaled four of its five hits in the frame after Tyler Loehr (Brighton, Mich.) retired the first nine Mansfield hitters in order. The Mountaineers went ahead 2-0 on a sacrifice fly by Mike Hartz and an RBI single by Brian Milliman. The Warriors cut the deficit in half as Alex Trojan (Fenton, Mich./Hartland) drove in Michael Wiseman (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland) with a sacrifice fly.

Loehr (0-2) and Joe Candelmo both went the distance, issuing five hits and one walk apiece. Loehr finished with four strikeouts, while Candelmo fanned five.

Brett Shankin (Washington, Mich./Romeo) and Andy Young battled in game two, with Shankin coming away with a two-hit complete game victory. The Mountaineers had the tying run on second base with two outs in the seventh, but Shankin (2-0) struck out Jon Moser to end the game, the sixth strikeout of the afternoon for the senior right-hander.

The lone run of the contest came in the third inning from an RBI single by Brad Guenther (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline), scoring Cameron Walker (Clinton Twp., Mich./De La Salle). #C.J. Maszal# (Allen Park, Mich.) finished the game 2-for-2 with a stolen base.

Wayne State will meet St. Joseph's (Ind.) in a nine-inning game Saturday at 4:30 p.m.