UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. -- Paced by Ryan Korolden (Yale, Mich. / Yale) on the mound and Rudy Ramirez (Brighton, Mich. / Brighton) at the plate, the Wayne State University baseball team (28-7 overall, 15-3 GLIAC) won the first of a four-game set at Saginaw Valley State (19-17 overall, 10-8 GLIAC) on Friday afternoon. The Warriors and Cardinals will resume the series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.

Korolden (7-1) lasted 7.1 innings on 115 pitches with one earned run surrendered on eight hits, four walks and seven strikeouts. In relief, Brennan Cox (Taylor, Mich. / Riverview Gabriel Richard) handled the final inning and two-thirds with one earned run given up on one hit, two free passes and a punchout that sealed the victory with the bases loaded.

Offensively, Wayne State struck first with two runs in the top of the first as Chris Tanderys (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson) singled in CJ Maury (Brampton, Ont. / Mayfield SS) and Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich. / Oxford) brought in Ramirez with a sacrifice fly to center field. Two innings later, Tanderys made it a 3-0 game with another sacrifice fly that pushed across Maury.

Saginaw Valley State cut the deficit to two, 3-1, in the fourth before the Warriors scored their fourth run in the fifth. That half inning, Ramirez's RBI double to left center forced in Maury for his third run scored. The home team made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth before Cox was able to shut the door on the Cardinals.

Ramirez led the offense with three hits in his four at-bats, two doubles, a run scored, and an RBI. He was one of six Warriors to register a hit, all of which were from the first six spots in the batting order.