LAKELAND, Fla. -- With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the ninth, Gabe Zeldes (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) laid down a safety squeeze bunt that scored Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich.) from third and gave Wayne State the lead.  No. 20 Florida Southern was then retired in order in the bottom of the inning and the Warriors held on for the 4-3 triumph.  WSU improved to 10-13 while FSC fell to 22-2, including 17-2 at home.

Wayne State couldn't have asked for a better effort from either of its pitchers, the starter Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) and reliever Ethan Getting (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Northern [Purdue Northwest]), who garnered his first pitching victory as a Warrior (1-0).

Making just the second start of his career, Hitzelberger gave up three runs, only two earned, in four innings with four hits allowed, two walks and four strikeouts.  Even more impressive though was Getting's five scoreless frames, one hit surrendered, one free pass, and three punchouts.  The PNW transfer faced just two batters over the minimum and lasted longer than two and two-thirds innings for the first time since his freshman campaign in 2023.

At the plate, Wayne State set the tone with three runs in the top of the first.  Hitzelberger scored on Hatzigeorgiou's fielder's choice to the second baseman, Owen Tuccinardi (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) scored on a throwing error by the pitcher, and Jacoby Dale (Roseville, Mich. [Spring Arbor/Henry Ford CC]) singled in Hatzigeorgiou.

Florida Southern proceeded to score one run in the home half of the first and two more in the fourth to knot up the score.  The ledger would read 3-3 for four frames before the Warriors' ninth-inning heroics.

In that top of the ninth, Hatzigeorgiou led off with a walk, moved to second on Dale's sacrifice bunt to the pitcher and to third on Ty Garza's (Grosse Ile, Mich. / Grosse Ile [Barton College]) single to center.  Then Zeldes won the game for WSU thanks to perfect situational execution.