Wayne State freshman starter Ryan Obrecht took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hit shutout and 10 strikeouts in a 11-0 win for the Wildcats in the second game of a doubleheader against Concordia-St. Paul Wednesday at the Chapman Complex.
Both games were dominated by the starting pitcher as Concordia-St. Paul’s Louie Varland fired a five-hitter with nine strikeouts in the 9-1 Golden Bear win in the opener.
The Golden Bears scored three in the first to take control early, and Wayne State’s lone run came in the fourth as Bryce Bisenius led off with a triple and scored on a Travis Miller single to left field.
The Wildcats had just five hits in the first contest, led by Brendan Madsen going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Bisenius tripled and Peyton Barnes doubled while Miller had an RBI single. Josh Renken was tagged the loss on the hill, charged with three runs in 2 1/3 innings.
The story of the second game was Obrecht taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Wildcats scored all 11 runs in the first three innings to cruise to the easy win.
Wayne State struck for four runs on four hits in the opening frame, as Andrew Hanson delivered a two-run single for the key hit in the inning.
The second inning saw the Wildcats strike for five runs after the opening two batters were retired. Barnes had a two-run double, with Hanson adding an RBI double and Garrett Graveline produced a run-scoring single. Wayne State scored two more runs in the third for an 11-0 lead, thanks to an RBI single from Miller and an RBI groundout by Bisenius.
Obrecht then turned into the story of the game as the freshman righthander face two batters over the minimum and took a no-hitter into the seventh. A second-inning walk and a leadoff fielding error by the Wildcats in the fifth were the lone two runners allowed by Obrecht entering the seventh.
A leadoff single to shortstop in the seventh inning by Concordia-St. Paul’s Kyle Horstmann broke up the no-hitter by Obrecht, who then retired the next three batters to finish with a one-hitter and 10 strikeouts to improve to 7-0 on the season.
Wayne State had 14 hits in the win, led by Hanson going 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored. Barnes ended 3-for-4 with two RBI while Miller went 3-for-4. CJ Neumann and Kyle Thompson each went 2-for-3 with Thompson scoring three runs.
The Wildcats (30-13, 21-9 NSIC) will be at home this weekend, hosting No. 24 Augustana in a three-game series with a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by a nine-inning game Sunday at 12 p.m.
