Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Wayne State University Athletics

-
Taylor Carrow
Bennett Hitzelberger tallied the first five-hit day by a Warrior since the 2021 campaign on Friday at RU.
21
Winner Wayne St. (Mich.) WSU 27-9, 11-6 GLIAC
11
Roosevelt RU 9-28, 0-13 GLIAC
Winner
Wayne St. (Mich.) WSU
27-9, 11-6 GLIAC
21
Final
11
Roosevelt RU
9-28, 0-13 GLIAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Wayne St. (Mich.) WSU 1 13 0 0 0 2 4 0 1 21 20 3
Roosevelt RU 4 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 3 11 10 1

W: Plummer, Coy (1-0) L: Brennan Cohen (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Cooper Weidenthaler, Assistant Director for Media Relations

No. 15 Baseball Records 21-11 Win in First Road Contest at Roosevelt

The Warriors churned out 20 hits and 10 walks to go with those 21 runs on Friday.

CRESTWOOD, Ill. -- The No. 15-ranked Wayne State University baseball squad (27-9 overall, 11-6 GLIAC) returned to conference action with its first ever road contest at Roosevelt (9-28 overall, 0-13 GLIAC).  The Warriors made Ozinga Field feel like home, as they trounced the Lakers 21-11 on Friday evening in Crestwood, Ill.  The two squads will continue their weekend series with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern in the same location.

The outburst on offense was the first time for WSU with 20 or more runs in a GLIAC game since April 7, 2023, at Purdue Northwest.  The Green and Gold claimed a 22-6 triumph that day.

Warrior Notes
- Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) went 5-for-6 at the plate with a pair of doubles and three runs scored.  His five-hit effort was the first such game by a Warrior in nearly five years.  Outfielder Rudy Ramirez was the last to have such a performance back on May 1, 2021, at Purdue Northwest.  Ramirez was also 5-for-6 in that game.
- Evan Langlois (Brownstown, Mich. / Woodhaven) made his first appearance on the mound for Wayne State since February 24, 2025.  The redshirt sophomore tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning with a pair of punchouts.
- Steven Whitted (Beverly Hills, Mich. / Birmingham Groves) singled up the middle to begin the top of the ninth for his first collegiate knock.  Whitted eventually scored WSU's 21st and final run of the win.

The Warriors opened the scoring just two batters in after Brady Blakita (Canton, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) singled and Ty Garza (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Barton College]) doubled him home.

After Roosevelt struck for four runs in the bottom of the first, including three unearned runs (4-1 RU), the Warriors posted a whopping 13-run inning on just seven hits to blow the game wide open.  Hitzelberger started the frame with a double and was promptly scored on another double from Caleb Sanders (Eastpointe, Mich. / Detroit Edison Public School Academy [Dayton]).  Alfredo Velazquez (Livonia, Mich. / Brother Rice [Michigan]) joined the party with a two-run triple to tie the score at 4-4.

An error then gave the Warriors a 5-4 advantage, which was the second and final lead change of the contest.  After Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) walked to force in another run, Owen Tuccinardi (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) smashed a grand slam to left field for his team-leading eighth home run of 2026.  The blast gave Wayne State a 10-4 lead and plated Hill, Garza, and Blakita.

The home runs in the top of the second did not stop there, as both Sanders and Velazquez powered two-run home runs of their own to cap the 13-run uprising.  Sanders' homer was his second of 2026, while Velazquez's was his third and his first since February 28 against Findlay.

No runs were tallied after that over the next two innings between the bottom of the second and top of the fourth.  RU pushed across the next four runs (one in the bottom of the fourth and three in the bottom of the fifth) to close back to within six at 14-8.  However, the Green and Gold would collect six runs consecutively to grab a 20-8 advantage.

Garza doubled in both Velazquez and Brayden Crowe (Brighton, Mich. / Hartland) in the top of the sixth, while a wild pitch scored Hitzelberger in the top of the seventh.  WSU scored three more in that seventh frame via a run-scoring double from Crowe, another bases-loaded walk from Hill, and another walk with the bags full by Tuccinardi.

Wayne State's 21st and final run was on another wild pitch that scored Whitted, who just prior had collected his aforementioned first collegiate hit to begin the ninth.  The Lakers scratched out three runs in the ninth to get to the game's final tally of 21-11.

Will Lowery (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Kalamazoo Valley C.C.]) earned the start and went 4.1 innings allowing eight runs, but only three were earned.  He allowed eight hits, a walk, and struck out five.  The winning pitcher was Coy Plummer (New Hudson, Mich. / South Lyon), who cruised through 2.2 scoreless and hitless frames for his first victory of the season.  Plummer punched out three in his outing. 

Langlois had the aforementioned 1-2-3 eighth inning, while wrapping up the triumph were both Luke O'Keefe (Saint John, Ind. / Lake Central) and Oscar Pace (Brighton, Mich. / Hartland).


 
Print Friendly Version