Wayne used a seven-run fifth inning to break a tie and come away with a 12-9 win over Omaha South Thursday in a game moved from Wayne to Omaha due to unplayable field conditions.
Wayne got on the board in the second inning when Reid Korth reached on an error, bringing home Gunnar Jorgensen. They added two more in the first on a double by Jorgensen, scoring Kaleb Anderson, and a single by Trevor DeBoer that brought home Jorgensen for the second time.
Omaha South got two in the third, but Wayne got those runs back in the fourth on a Blake Bartos sacrifice fly that scored Jacob Kneifl and an error that brought Josh Lutt home to make it a 5-2 game.
Omaha South tied the game with three in the bottom of the fourth, but Wayne broke the game open with a seven-run fifth inning, capped by a fielding error that brought Bartos and Victor Kniesche home to give Wayne a 12-5 advantage.
The scoring started with an RBI groundout by Brennen O’Reilly and an RBI single by Korth, scoring Anderson and Brock Hopkins. Lutt followed with a one-out single to right, scoring Korth, and Bartos singled Kneifl home before Lutt came home on a bases-loaded walk to Zane Jackson. The two-out error that brought Bartos and Kniesche followed, and Wayne survived a four-run comeback effort by the Packers to improve to 6-5 on the season.
Kneifl was 2-for-3 and scored twice to lead a nine-hit effort for the Blue Devils. Jorgensen doubled and scored twice and Anderson and Lutt both scored two runs apiece. Bartos had two RBI’s.
Lutt got the win on the mound, allowing five runs on four hits over 3 1/3 innings. Drew Buck pitched 1 2/3 innings in middle relief before Jackson finished the final two innings for the save.
Wayne plays in the Seward Invitational on Saturday, facing the host Bluejays.
