The Wayne State College baseball team posted a non-conference sweep Sunday afternoon in Bolivar, Mo., as the Wildcats swept Southwest Baptist 7-4 and 8-5 to improve to 4-2 on the season.
In the opener, Aidan Breedlove lost a no-hitter with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on a three-run homer, and the Wildcats needed a three-run ninth inning to take the opening in extra innings.
The first five innings were scoreless, featuring a pitchers’ duel between Breedlove and Dalton Morrow of Southwest Baptist, but Wayne State broke the ice in the sixth with a two-run homer by Alex Logelin and a solo shot by Andrew Hanson.
Breedlove took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and had allowed just two runners through six innings of work. He was one out away with two walks led to a game-tying three-run homer that sent the game into extra innings.
In the eighth, Bryce Bisenius blasted a solo homer putting the Wildcats in front 4-3, but Southwest Baptist tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with a run. Wayne Staet used a double by Neumann and a single by Colin Chick, along with three errors, to score three and finish off the win.
Logelin led a 10-hit effort, going 2-for-5 with a homer, double and two RBI. Neumann was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored while Jake Lemar finished 2-for-4. Lawson Zenner worked 1 1/3 innings and earned the win, charged with one hit and one run with two strikeouts. Andrew Staebell pitched the ninth inning to earn the save.
In the second game, Neumann went 3-for-3 as the Wildcats built an early 7-2 lead and finished the Sunday sweep.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the first on a Jake Lemar RBI double, along with run-scoring singles from Bisenius and Chris Cornish, then extended it to 4-0 in the second on an RBi single by Hanson.
Three more runs in the third gave WSC an 8-2 lead. With two outs and no runners on base, Connor Fiene singled and scored on Neumann’s RBI single while Colin Chick followed with a two-run homer. Wayne State’s final run came in the fifth inning on a Neumann RBI single that scored Cornish, who walked.
Hunter Wienhoff worked five innings to earn the win. He allowed six hits and three runs with three strikeouts and two walks. Logan Walters worked 2/3 of an inning in relief with Staebell notching his second save of the day with 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief with one strikeout.
Wayne State and Southwest Baptist are scheduled to close out their three-game series Monday with a nine-inning game starting at 12 p.m.
