CINCINNATI -- The Wayne State University baseball team (9-2 overall) came up short 6-2 in game one of Saturday's doubleheader against Findlay (5-6 overall) before rebounding in the nightcap for a 6-4 victory. The Warriors and Oilers will conclude their four-game series on Sunday with a 12 p.m. first pitch at Hayden Field.
GAME ONE
Both of Wayne State's runs came via the home run, including a solo shot for
Alfredo Velazquez (Livonia, Mich. / Brother Rice [Michigan]) in the third inning and a solo blast by
Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) in the fourth. Velazquez and Hitzelberger each have two round trippers for the season.
Aside from Hitzelberger having a second hit, the only Warrior to do so, WSU's fourth base knock belonged to
Ty Garza (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Barton College]).
On the mound,
Gavin Nash (Howell, Mich. / Hartland) made the start but dropped to 0-2 on the spring after 3.2 innings pitched. Nash gave up three earned runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts on 72 pitches.
First out of the bullpen,
Philip Miller (Flat Rock, Mich. / Woodhaven [Schoolcraft C.C. / Tusculum]) retired five batters in his appearance. Miller allowed two earned runs on one hit with two free passes and two punchouts on 44 pitches.
Lastly,
Ethan Getting (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Northern [Purdue Northwest]) handled business in his one and two-thirds frames. Getting surrendered one unearned run on zero hits with one walk and two strikeouts on 36 pitches.
GAME TWO
Through the top half of the fourth inning, Wayne State had just one run to its name and trailed Findlay 4-1. That lone Warrior score came in on
Caleb Sanders' (Eastpointe, Mich. / Detroit Edison Public School Academy [Dayton]) RBI double through the left side in the fourth.
WSU then put up four runs in the fifth and an extra run for insurance in the sixth.
In the aforementioned fifth frame, Hitzelberger reached on a fielding error by the shortstop, which allowed
Gabe Zeldes (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) to touch home plate. Then,
Owen Tuccinardi (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) tripled for the second time in three contests while scoring both
Rhett Roeser (New Baltimore, Mich. / Warren De La Salle) and Hitzelberger.
That same inning,
Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) gave his team the 5-4 lead with an RBI single to left that plated Tuccinardi.
In the sixth, that sixth insurance run scored when Roeser doubled in
Bryce Neitzel (Kawkawlin, Mich. / Bay City Western [Mott C.C.]) thanks to a knock to right center.
Warriors with multiple hits included Roeser (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI), Hill (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI) and Sanders (2-for-3, 1 RBI). Five of the squad's six RBI were driven in by the top four spots in the lineup, as did five of the team's eight hits.
Keegan Pulford-Thorpe (Aurora, Ont. / Newmarket [Central Florida / Georgia Highlands College]) received a no decision after 4.2 innings of work. Pulford-Thorpe gave up four earned runs on five hits with four free passes and five punchouts on 90 pitches.
Picking up the first pitching victory of his career,
Rocco Cardinale (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) slammed the door on Oilers during his six batters retired. Cardinale didn't surrender a single run with three hits, one walk, three strikeouts, and 33 pitches.
