Wayne State and Lindenwood split a baseball doubleheader Sunday in St. Charles, Mo., with the Wildcats taking the opener 9-2 and the Lions claiming the nightcap 10-2.
In the first game, Brody Sintek and Keean Allen combined to limit Lindenwood to just six hits.
WSC opened the scoring with a three-run first inning. Chris Cornish had an RBI double while Travis Baily and Nick Barnett each added run-scoring singles in the inning as the ‘Cats opened the game with five hits in the first frame.
The Wildcats added two runs in the sixth inning for a 5-0 advantage. Andrew Hanson’s two-run double to left field brought home Cade Lynam and Alex Logelin, who both singled.
Wayne State increased their lead to 6-0 in the eighth inning when Cade Lynam was hit by a pitch and scored on a Lindenwood fielding error.
Lindenwood avoided the shutout with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Wayne State added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth, using two hits and four Lindenwood walks to score three runs. Chase Douglas had a pinch-hit single while Kyler Essink recorded an RBI single in the inning.
Sintek worked five scoreless innings to notch the pitching win, allowing just three hits with four strikeouts and five walks. Keean Allen pitched four stellar innings of relief to earn the save, charged with two runs on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
Cade Lynam was 2-for-4 at the plate scoring three runs to lead Wayne State at the plate. Barnett, Essink and Colin Lynam each added two singles for the Wildcats. Andrew Hanson doubled and had three RBI while Chris Cornish also doubled in the win.
The second game saw Lindenwood’s pitching staff limit the Wildcats to just four hits.
Lindenwood scored two runs in the third inning to take an early 2-0 lead, but Wayne State countered with two in the fourth to tie the game.Hanson doubled, stole third base and scored on a Lion throwing error for the first Wildcat run, and Conner Fiene walked and came home on a Noah Roberts single.
The host Lions pushed across five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good at 7-2, adding three more in the seventh to close out the win.
Hanson had two of Wayne State’s four hits in the game, going 2-for-4 with a double. An RBI single from Roberts and single by Nick Barnett were the only other Wildcat hits in the game.
Ryan Obrecht (0-2) suffered the pitching loss, yielding six runs over 4 2/3 innings work. Andrew Staebell and Nick Oden worked in relief for WSC with Staebell pitching 2 1/3 innings while Oden worked one inning.
Wayne State (2-4) is slated to play a doubleheader at William Jewell in Liberty, Mo., on Wednesday at 12 p.m.
