DETROIT -- The Wayne State University baseball team (16-15 overall, 6-1 GLIAC) finished off its four-game sweep of Roosevelt (7-25 overall, 1-11 GLIAC) on Sunday afternoon, winning by a score of 4-3. The Warriors' 17th-year head coach
Ryan Kelley garnered his 500th career victory in the process to improve his record to 500-319-1 for a .610 winning percentage.
Wayne State put up a three spot right away in the bottom of the first inning.
Reagan Paulina (Highland, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central [Oakland]) opened the scoring when he forced in
Caleb Sanders (Eastpointe, Mich. / Detroit Edison Public School Academy [Dayton]) with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Then with two outs,
Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich.) hit a fly ball to left that was dropped by the left fielder, which allowed
Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) and
Jacoby Dale (Roseville, Mich. [Spring Arbor/Henry Ford CC]) to complete their trip around the bases.
Two innings later,
Mason McGuire (Lyon Twp., Mich. / Brighton [Mott CC]) helped the Warriors tack on a much needed insurance run when he doubled in Paulina from second base.
Roosevelt cut the deficit in half in the sixth, which set the scene for a nail-biting ninth. The lead-off batter Jack Kieffer drew a seven-pitch walk before moving to second on a groundout to Hatzigeorgiou at third. Following the second out, another groundout, but to
Ty Garza (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Barton College]) at shortstop, Sebastian Casillas singled to put runners on the corners.
In came
Ethan Getting (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Northern [Purdue Northwest]) for
Nick Baker (Brighton, Mich. [Lansing CC]). RU slimmed the margin to one with an RBI single off the bat of James Berry to left before Getting slammed the door on the next batter thanks to a fielder's choice to Garza.
Wayne State starting pitcher
Braylon Laroo (Canton, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) improved to 2-0 after five innings of work. Laroo allowed two earned runs on five hits with two walks, one strikeout and 60 pitches.
Then came Baker who nearly pulled off the elusive four-inning save. The Lansing CC transfer lasted three and two-thirds frames while giving up one earned run on three hits. Baker surrendered one free pass with two punchouts.
Getting then picked up his second save as a Warrior with a third of an inning to his name.
Next up on the schedule, WSU will be at Findlay on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. first pitch in Ohio.
