HAMMOND, Ind. -- The Wayne State University baseball team (12-14 overall, 2-1 GLIAC) broke into the league win column for the first time on Saturday, sweeping Purdue Northwest (9-11 overall, 1-6 GLIAC) with scores of 10-6 and 13-4. The two teams will conclude their four-game set on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 11:30 a.m. eastern time.
GAME ONE
Neither team scored in the first two innings before Purdue Northwest put up a four spot in the bottom of the third, but Wayne State punched right back with four runs of its own in the fourth.
In that fourth frame, the Warriors broke the seal when
Jacoby Dale (Roseville, Mich. [Spring Arbor/Henry Ford CC]) scored on a passed ball.
Three of the ensuing four batters made the score 4-4, each with an RBI single.
Aidan Arbogast (Livonia, Mich. / Livonia Stevenson [Mid-Michigan C.C. / Kellogg C.C. / Eastern Michigan]) plated
Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich.),
Ty Garza (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Barton College]) forced in Arbogast, and
Noah Murciano (Richmond Hill, Ont. / Bill Crothers S.S.[Sussex County C.C. / Coppin State]) drove in
Caleb Sanders (Eastpointe, Mich. / Detroit Edison Public School Academy [Dayton]).
The Pride proceeded to take the lead back in the fifth, 6-4, but WSU was saving its best for last.
In the sixth,
Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) pushed Hatzigeorgiou across with a bases-loaded walk before Dale doubled in a trio of runners, Garza, Hill and
Mason McGuire (Lyon Twp., Mich. / Brighton [Mott CC]). Then in the seventh, Wayne State tacked on a pair of insurance runs when
Owen Tuccinardi (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) came in on a wild pitch and Sanders' sacrifice fly to right scored Hatzigeorgiou.
On the mound,
Gabe Nazelli (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) pitched four and one-third innings. Nazelli gave up six runs, five earned, on three hits with five walks and four strikeouts.
Nick Baker (Brighton, Mich. [Lansing CC]) then earned his first victory as a Warrior (1-0) thanks to two and two-thirds frames of shutout work. Baker didn't surrender a single hit with only one free pass and five punchouts.
GAME TWO
Wayne State took a commanding 9-0 advantage before Purdue Northwest was able to scratch one across.
Those nine runs included one in the first, seven in the second and another in the fourth.
The Pride's four scores included one in the home half of the third before a three spot in the fifth.
The Warriors blew the game open scoring one in the sixth and another trio in the eighth.
WSU's 13 hits came from nine different batters, three of which had multiple including Dale (3-for-4, 4 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 2B), McGuire (2-for-6, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B) and Hill (2-for-3. 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 2B). Hill was one of three Warriors to drive in multiple runs along with Hatzigeorgiou (1-for-2, 2 RBI, 1 BB) and Hitzelberger (1-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI, 3-R HR). That round-tripper for Hitzelberger was his second of the season.
On the bump,
Will DeMasse (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota) was brilliant through eight innings of work. DeMasse (2-1) allowed four runs, three earned, on nine hits with two walks, three strikeouts and 103 total pitches.
Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Aurora, Ont. / Newmarket [Central Florida / Georgia Highlands College]) then slammed the door with a scoreless ninth, no hits to his name and one free pass.
