CALEDONIA, Mich. -- The Wayne State University baseball team (20-3 overall, 4-1 GLIAC) didn't let a three-run deficit (4-1) through seven innings on Friday at Davenport (12-15 overall, 4-1 GLIAC) deter its series-opening efforts. The Warriors proceeded to score four in the eighth, two in the ninth and win by three over the Panthers, 7-4. Next up, these two teams will play game two of the series on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m.
Trailing 4-1 heading to the top of the eighth inning, 10 batters would come to the plate and give Wayne State its first lead since 1-0 in the top of the second. That first run came in when
Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) scored on a wild pitch.
Breaking down that four-run, four-hit half of the eighth, Hill made it a one run affair thanks to a two-run triple into the gap in left-center field. That knock brought in both
Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) and
Owen Tuccinardi (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline).
Then, the next batter
Rhett Roeser (New Baltimore, Mich. / Warren De La Salle) tied the game up with an RBI single right back up the middle to center field.
One out later, Roeser advanced to third on a wild pitch and then
Nick Sandiha, Jr. (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Brother Rice [Macomb C.C.]) forced him in with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Hill was at it again in the ninth as he tacked on an insurance run (6-4 score) in the form of pinch-runner
Brady Blakita (Canton, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) following a double to right. Three batters later, the three-run margin favored the Green and Gold when Sandiha, Jr. singled in Hill.
On the mound, reigning NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week
Will Lowery (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Kalamazoo Valley C.C.]) made the start, but wasn't the winning pitcher for the first time all season. Through 5.1 innings (90 pitches), Lowery gave up three runs, two earned, on two hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
The team's winner,
Jack Saputo (Windsor, Ont. / St. Anne Catholic [Macomb C.C.]) garnered his first pitching victory as a Warrior (1-0 record) following one and two-thirds frames of work and 36 pitches. Saputo surrendered one unearned run on three hits with no free passes and three punchouts.
Rocco Cardinale (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) then worked the final two innings and collected his fourth save of the season. Cardinale faced one batter over the minimum, which was a walk, to go with three strikeouts on just 25 pitches.