BOX SCORES:  GAME 3  |  GAME 4

DETROIT - The Wayne State University baseball team (24-13, 15-9 GLIAC) took three out of four in its weekend series with Ashland University (23-17, 15-11 GLIAC), sweeping Sunday's doubleheader to overtake AU for third place in the conference.

Wayne State won the third game of the series, 5-1, to open Sunday's twinbill.  Alex Pierse (Clinton Twp., Mich./De La Salle) tossed a two-hit shutout, the second by a Warrior pitcher in a 24-hour span, as WSU secured a 2-0 victory in the finale.

WSU will face Grand Valley State in a four-game series next weekend in Allendale.


GAME 3: WAYNE STATE 5, ASHLAND 1

Brad Guenther (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline) went 2-for-3 with two RBI in Sunday's opener.  He also scored one of three WSU runs in the bottom of the first, as the Warriors benefitted from a pair of Ashland errors.

Ashland scored its lone run in the second, but managed just two hits over the final five innings.   Guenther drove in Kasey Koster (Portage, Mich./Central) with a double in the bottom of the second, and did it again with a single in the fourth.

Chris Waha (Charlevoix, Mich.) allowed four hits over five innings.  He walked five but struck out four to earn his second win of the season.  Kyle Zimmerman (Frankfort, Mich.) fanned three over two innings and picked up his first collegiate save.

Brad Thomas, the first of three AU pitchers in the game, took the loss (6-2).


GAME 4: WAYNE STATE 2, ASHLAND 0

Pierse (4-1), who has thrown a combined 12 shutout innings over his last two starts, tied his season-high with six strikeouts.  He did not allow a runner past second base after the second inning and recorded his first complete-game shutout of his career.

Wayne State took the lead in the third when J.J. Ciennik (Waterford, Mich./Mott), who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, scored on a single by Kenny Davis (Wyoming, Mich./Lee).  The Warriors doubled their lead on Alex Trojan's (Fenton, Mich./Hartland) sacrifice fly in the fifth, scoring Guenther.

Pierse induced a 6-4-3 double play in the sixth inning and struck out the side in the seventh.

Shayne Herold (1-3) gave up five hits and two walks in four innings.  Joe Malfara worked two shutout frames in relief.


NOTES

Guenther went 4-for-10 with a walk and two sacrifices in the series … he has reached base in 10 straight games … the WSU defense turned six double plays on the weekend … Wayne State has won six of the last seven meetings with Ashland.