After dropping the first game of the doubleheader, Wayne State’s bats caught fire as the Wildcat softball team split a pair with Minot State Saturday at the Chapman Complex, losing the opener 8-4 and winning the nightcap 13-5.
In the opener, the Beavers hit a pair of home runs and scored five in the top of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.
The Wildcats got on the board first in the second inning when Katelyn Wobken scored on an Emily Chandler single.
After the Beavers scored one in the second and two in the fifth to take a 3-1 advantage, the Wildcats came back with five hits in the sixth inning, scoring a pair of runs on RBI singles by Jordyn Breitbarth and Emily Chandler to make it 3-3.
Minot State responded with a five-run, seven-hit assault in the seventh inning to take control of the game, Wayne State scored a run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough.
Chandler was 3-for-4 with three RBI’s in the losing effort, while Wobken had two hits and scored three times. Riley Vanderveen took the pitching loss.
In the second game, the Wildcat bats came alive with three home runs, getting a two-run shot by Chandler and a solo homer by Melanie Alyea in the first inning for a 3-0 advantage.
Minot State responded to take a 4-3 lead in the second, but Wayne State came right back with five in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by a three-run homer by Melanie Alyea and RBI singles by Chandler and Monique Alyea.
Wayne State put the game out of reach in the fourth with four runs, highlighted by an RBI double by Melanie Alyea and RBI singles by Breithbarth and Blair Shanks.
Melanie Alyea’s 3-for-3 effort sparked the 12-hit attack. She had two homers, a double, five RBI’s and three runs scored. Chandler was 2-for-2 with three RBI’s and three runs scored, and Wobken finished 3-for-4. Nataliah Hopkins got the complete-game win for the Wildcats.
Wayne State (7-27, 1-9 NSIC) will host University of Mary on Sunday in a 12 p.m. doubleheader.
