BOX SCORES:  GAME 3  |  GAME 4

ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Wayne State University baseball team (26-15, 17-11 GLIAC) split a pair of games with nationally-ranked Grand Valley State University (32-12, 22-8 GLIAC) for the second day in a row.  The Lakers won Sunday's opener, 4-2, but the Warriors came away from the series finale with an 11-8 victory.

Wayne State remained in third place in the conference with six games remaining.  The Warriors will travel to Saginaw Valley State for a doubleheader Wednesday before hosting Lake Erie in a four-game series next weekend.


GAME 3: GRAND VALLEY STATE 4, WAYNE STATE 2

The Lakers scored in each of the first three innings, including their two-run third frame.  Cory Baker (7-1) had his shutout bid spoiled when the Warriors scored twice in the sixth.

Singles by Mike Nadratowski in the first inning and Mitchell Kozlowski in the second each produced a run for the Lakers, who scored twice in the third on RBI singles by Kevin Zak and Derrik Strzalkowski.

Baker took a two-hitter into the sixth when Kenny Davis (Wyoming, Mich./Lee) led off with a base hit.  Davis went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Kyle Vesey (Brighton, Mich.), who later came in on a pinch-hit single by Phil Swanson (Rochester Hills, Mich./Stoney Creek) after Baker was lifted for Brad Zambron.

The Warriors put two men aboard with two outs in the seventh, but Zambron managed to cut the rally short for his 13th save of the season.

Chris Waha (Charlevoix, Mich.) struck out five over four innings of work, allowing seven hits and two walks as he fell to 2-2 on the year.  Justin Sylvester (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) pitched a pair of 1-2-3 innings in relief.


GAME 4: WAYNE STATE 11, GRAND VALLEY STATE 8

Kyle Zimmerman (Frankfort, Mich.) finished a double short of the cycle and drove in four runs.  Swanson also had a three-hit game and three RBI.

The Warriors totaled 15 hits altogether, one shy of their season-high.  Brad Guenther (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline), Davis, and Alex Trojan (Fenton, Mich./Hartland) tallied two hits apiece.  Wayne State scored in every inning but the fifth and managed to out-slug GVSU which had four two-run frames in the game.

Wayne State erased a 4-3 deficit with a three-run third inning.  Trojan drove in Vesey, who scored three times in the game, with a double and Swanson contributed a two-run single.

Vesey's RBI single and Zimmerman's two-run shot to left made it a 9-4 game in the fourth.  Meanwhile, Alex Pierse (Clinton Twp., Mich./De La Salle) retired the Lakers in order in both the third and fourth innings.

A pair of WSU errors contributed to GVSU's two-run fifth inning, but the Warriors answered with a run in each of the next two frames.  Zimmerman smacked an RBI triple and Swanson doubled in a run.

After back-to-back singles to start the seventh chased Pierse from the game, Billy Hurley (Mississauga, Ont./St. Aloysius Gonzaga) came on to close it out.  The Lakers picked up runs on an error and a double play, but Strzalkowski popped up to end the game.

Pierse (5-1) fanned five and allowed six hits and two walks over six innings.  Anthony Campanella, the first of five GVSU pitchers, took the loss (6-2) after surrendering seven hits and six runs (four earned) in two innings.


NOTES

Wayne State's next two opponents (SVSU, Lake Erie) are in fourth and second place, respectively … Davis finished the series 5-for-14 with three RBI and two runs scored … three of Vesey's four hits in the series were for extra bases.