WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The Wayne State University baseball team (6-8 overall) came up short against 18th-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato (11-1 overall) on Tuesday night by a score of 20-5.  Next up on the schedule, the Warriors and Mavericks will see each other again on Wednesday with the first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.

Minnesota State scored three runs in the first inning, five in the second, sixth in the third, and six in the seventh.

As for Wayne State, one run crossed in the second frame before four more in the fourth.  In the second, Brady Blakita (Canton, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) drew a bases-loaded walk that forced in Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich.) from third base.

Two innings later, the Warriors' scoring continued when Mason McGuire (Lyon Twp., Mich. / Brighton [Mott CC]) doubled in Hatzigeorgiou.  Then, Blakita hit a three-run home run to center field that also plated Gabe Zeldes (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) and McGuire.  That blast marked the first of Blakita's career.

On the mound, in order, Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North), Coy Plummer (New Hudson, Mich. / South Lyon) and Nick Baker (Brighton, Mich. [Lansing CC]) each retired four batters.  Ethan Getting (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Northern [Purdue Northwest]) pitched a scoreless inning before Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Aurora, Ont. / Newmarket [Central Florida / Georgia Highlands College]) accounted for the last two frames.