BOX SCORES:  GAME 1  |  GAME 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio - After having Saturday's doubleheader rained out, the Wayne State University baseball team (20-11, 11-7 GLIAC) split a pair of 7-4 results Sunday at Ohio Dominican University (17-15, 9-9 GLIAC).  The Panthers took the first game and the Warriors salvaged the split in the second.

At the midway point of its conference schedule, Wayne State is in fourth place in the GLIAC.  The Warriors will travel to Hillsdale on Wednesday before facing Ashland in a four-game series this weekend in Detroit.


GAME 1: OHIO DOMINICAN 7, WAYNE STATE 4

The Warriors, who scored a run in four straight innings,  had a 4-2 lead disappear late in the game as the Panthers tied it with two runs in the fifth and scored three more times in the sixth, handing Ethan Vasiliauskas (South Rockwood, Mich./Carleton Airport) his first loss of the season.

Christian Prince drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single, his third hit of the game.  Jake Simmerman's two-run double provided insurance for the Panthers, who provided head coach Paul Page with his 900th career victory.

Andrew Ciennik (Waterford, Mich./Mott) and Kasey Koster (Portage, Mich./Central) led WSU with two hits apiece.  Koster also had a pair of runs batted in, twice driving in Kyle Vesey (Brighton, Mich.).

Neither starting pitcher factored into the decision, as Josh Wedesky (Fowlerville, Mich.) allowed two runs on six hits over four innings before being replaced by Vasiliauskas (5-1), who gave up five runs (four earned) in 1.1 innings of work.  Nick Venditti (4-2) pitched two perfect innings in relief of Austin Bueter.

Vesey reached on a one-out error in the second and scored on a double by Koster.  Wayne State doubled its lead as Justin DeFrancis (Rochester, Mich./Stoney Creek) scored on an RBI double by Ciennik in the third.

Anthony Raschilla and John Bowron each drove in a run in the third, but Wedesky escaped a bases-loaded jam to keep the score tied.

Koster's RBI single in the fourth inning plated Vesey, who drove in a run with a grounder in the fifth giving WSU a 4-2 lead.  A two-run homer by Austin Butler tied the game in the bottom of the inning.


GAME 2: WAYNE STATE 7, OHIO DOMINICAN 4

Wayne State totaled 11 hits in game two and led for the duration to snap its four-game losing skid.  Chris Gebara (Troy, Mich.) went 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, while DeFrancis, Brad Guenther (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline) and Vesey finished with two hits each.

The Warriors spotted starter Greg Spiess (Saline, Mich.) a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  Alex Trojan (Fenton, Mich./Hartland) drove in DeFrancis with a base hit, and Guenther scored on a sacrifice fly by Eric Cunningham (LaSalle, Ont./St. Thomas of Vilanova).

An RBI single by Prince cut in the bottom of the first cut into the lead, but the Warriors responded quickly on an RBI single by DeFrancis in the second.

The teams traded runs in the fourth inning but Wayne State's two-run fifth inning made it a 6-2 score.  Base hits by Cunningham and Gebara each produced a run.

Gebara drove in an additional run with his third hit of the game in the seventh.  ODU scored twice in the final frame but WSU cut the rally short to preserve the win for Spiess (2-1), who allowed just five hits over six innings.


NOTES

DeFrancis has reached base in 21 straight games … Trojan had his 19-game hitting streak snapped in Sunday's opener … Ciennik leads the team with 11 multiple-hit games.