LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Wayne State University baseball team (9-11 overall) opened a four-game set against 20th-ranked Florida Southern (20-5 overall) on Friday night at Henley Field.  The Mocs ran their winning streak to three, defeating the Warriors by a score of 10-3.  WSU and FSC will resume the series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.

Florida Southern struck first with a pair of runs in the first inning and another in the second.

Wayne State got on the board in the third when Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich.) grounded out to second, but scored Caleb Sanders (Eastpointe, Mich. / Detroit Edison Public School Academy [Dayton]) from third base following his lead-off triple.

The Mocs scored their fourth run in the home half of the third before the Warriors cut the deficit to two again, but not until the seventh, 4-2.  That frame, another runner was plated on a ground out, this time when Jacoby Dale (Roseville, Mich. [Spring Arbor/Henry Ford CC]) touched the dish after Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) put the ball in play.

However, FSC tacked on three runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to take its biggest lead of the night, 10-2.

WSU's third and final run was tallied in the ninth when pinch-hitter Owen Tuccinardi (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) doubled in Gabe Zeldes (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day).

On the mound, Will DeMasse (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota) suffered the loss (1-1) after six innings of work.  DeMasse gave up four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. 

First out of the bullpen, Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Aurora, Ont. / Newmarket [Central Florida / Georgia Highlands College]) retired one batter, but surrendered a three-run home run with two free passes.  Hill then pitched the final inning and two-thirds with three-earned runs, three hits, one walk, and two punchouts.