DAVENPORT, Fla. -- Beginning a stretch of six games in as many days in The Sunshine State, the Wayne State University baseball team (11-2 overall) took care of Minnesota State-Mankato (11-6 overall) by a final score of 5-2 on Monday afternoon. Next up, the Warriors will face another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) foe on Tuesday in St. Cloud State beginning at 1 p.m.
Wayne State's offense struck first in the top of the third frame as
Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) singled in
Rhett Roeser (New Baltimore, Mich. / Warren De La Salle) with a base knock to right field.
Minnesota State-Mankato got that run back in the bottom of the fourth before the Warriors exploded for four scores in the top of the fifth.
That half inning,
Owen Tuccinardi (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) singled in Roeser before Hill blew the game wide open. With
Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) standing on third and Tuccinardi at first, Hill crushed a three-run home run to right, his second of the season.
The Mavericks pulled within three thanks to a run in the eighth, but that would be it as the Green and Gold finished the 5-2 triumph.
Offensively, Hill accounted for three of WSU's eight hits. The other five came from five different players including Roeser, Tuccinardi,
Alfredo Velazquez (Livonia, Mich. / Brother Rice [Michigan]),
Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich.) and
Caleb Sanders (Eastpointe, Mich. / Detroit Edison Public School Academy [Dayton]).
Will Lowery (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Kalamazoo Valley C.C.]) continued his unblemished start to the spring as he improved to 4-0 through just as many starts. Finishing more than five frames for the first time this season, Lowery lasted seven innings on 101 pitches. The redshirt junior gave up one earned run on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Nick Baker (Brighton, Mich. [Lansing C.C.]) bridged the gap to the bullpen with the eighth inning to his name before
Rocco Cardinale (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) garnered his second save of the year. Cardinale walked one batter but didn't allow a hit in his three outs of work.