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Wayne State University Athletics

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Taylor Carrow
Ty Garza's grand slam in the bottom of the sixth gave WSU a lead it would never lose vs. Hillsdale.
8
Hillsdale HC 18-23
13
Winner Wayne State WSU 31-9
Hillsdale HC
18-23
8
Final
13
Wayne State WSU
31-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Hillsdale HC 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 3 8 10 2
Wayne State WSU 0 0 0 1 0 6 4 2 X 13 13 1

W: Mator, Joel (1-1) L: Isaac Scavarda (1-3)

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

Wayne State Baseball Rallies from Four-Run Deficit to Down Hillsdale

The Warriors avenged their loss to the Chargers on the road last week with a come-from-behind win.

DETROIT -- Down 5-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, the 15th-ranked Wayne State University baseball squad (31-9 overall) scored 12 of the game's final 15 runs to top visiting Hillsdale (18-23 overall) by a 13-8 margin on Tuesday afternoon at Harwell Field.  The Warriors used a six-run bottom of the sixth to take their first lead of the contest and held on from there, with the highlight being a grand slam by Ty Garza (Grosse Ile, Mich. [Barton College]) for the go-ahead runs in that sixth.  Next up, WSU will remain at home to start a four-game series with Purdue Northwest beginning on Friday at 3 p.m.

Much like a week ago when Wayne State jumped out to an early lead on the road, HC accomplished the same over the first five-and-a-half frames.  That included three solo home runs (one each in the fourth, fifth, and sixth), as well as a pair of RBI singles.

Despite drawing seven walks over the opening five innings, the Green and Gold had just two hits over that same span as the hosts failed to connect with the big hit.  WSU's lone run in that timeframe came when Brayden Crowe (Brighton, Mich. / Hartland) drew one of those walks with the bases loaded to force home Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) in the bottom of the fourth.

Trailing 5-1, as mentioned above, the Warriors finally connected for damaging hits in the sixth.  Following a pair of one-out singles and a hit batter, Brady Blakita (Canton, Mich. / Detroit Catholic Central) walked with the bases loaded to score Tony Hatzigeorgiou (Oxford, Mich.).  The next batter was Garza, who proceeded to deposit the 1-1 pitch over the wall in left center for a grand slam.  The blast, which was redshirt junior's third of the season, gave Wayne State a 6-5 advantage.  The sixth inning still was not over, as Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.) tripled to dead center and drove in a Hill single.

The Warriors tacked on three insurance runs the following inning in the seventh to obtain a six-run edge at 11-5.  Alfredo Velazquez (Livonia, Mich. / Brother Rice [Michigan]) singled up the middle for the first tally of the frame, before Hill plated Velazquez with a single of his own.  Hill then crossed home plate via a wild pitch.

A passed ball brought in the 12th run for WSU, while a sacrifice fly from Blakita served as the 13th and final run for the Green and Gold.  Both of those runs occurred in the bottom of the eighth.

Hillsdale hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to draw to within five once again at 13-8, but that would be as close as the guests would get as 13-8 was ultimately the final score.

A grand total of seven pitchers saw time on the mound for the Warriors in the victory.  That began with starting pitcher TJ McAllister (St. Clair Shores, Mich. / South Lake) in his first start of 2026.  McAllister went the first two innings, allowed three hits and one earned run, while punching out a team-best four among those seven WSU arms.  Philip Miller (Flat Rock, Mich. / Woodhaven [Schoolcraft C.C. / Tusculum]) threw the next two innings with one run allowed and three strikeouts.

Joel Mator (Trenton, Mich.) picked up the first win of his collegiate career by being the pitcher of record when Wayne State grabbed its first lead of the day.  Mator went 1.1 innings after Coy Plummer (New Hudson, Mich. / South Lyon) picked up two outs.  Closing out the Warrior victory after the home squad obtained the lead were Rocco Cardinale (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) with two scoreless frames, Oscar Pace (Brighton, Mich. / Hartland), and Carson Tehan (LaSalle, Ont. / Sandwich S.S.) with the final out of the contest via a strikeout.


 
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