The Wayne State baseball team split its final two games at the Alpine Freh 4 HIM Baseball Classic in Cleburn Texas, losing to Oklahoma Panhandle State 18-2 and beating Southern Nazarene 10-4.
Wayne State could not overcome a 11-0 deficit in the first three innings against OPS, but they didn’t go down quietly.
Wayne State scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on an Alex Logelin RBI double to score Brendan Madsen while Noah Roberts produced an RBI single that scored Logelin.]
They scored six runs on just three hits ion the fourthwhile taking advantage of four walks and a hit batter. Big hits in the inning for Wayne State were a two-run doubles from Andrew Hanson and Roberts along with a run-scoring double by Logelin.
After OPS scored five in the sixth to go up 15-8, Wayne State scored two to make it 15-0. Peyton Barnes singled and later scored on a passed ball while CJ Neumann doubled and later crossed home plate on a single from Madsen.
Panhandle State scored three more runs in the eighth while WSC closed the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Roberts and Barnes each recorded RBI singles in the ninth for the Wildcats.
Roberts paced WSC at the plate going 4-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI. Logelin ended 3-for-6 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored while Madsen went 3-for-6 with three singles. Hanson was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and two runs scored while Barnes also collected two hits. Freshman Brody Sintek (0-1) suffered the pitching loss, working 2 1/3 innings.
In the final game of the trip, Madsen went 3-for-3 with three RBI and Wayne State converted 10 walks from Southern Nazarene pitchers into seven runs.
Southern Nazarene was out-hitting Wayne State until the final two innings of the contest as the Wildcats (2-2) took advantage of 10 walks from Crimson Storm pitching, turning seven of the 10 free passes into runs.
The Wildcats struck first with three runs in the bottom of the third. Barnes walked and scored on an RBI single from Madsen for the first run. Madsen scored on a Logelin RBI double while Logelin later scored on a balk.
Wayne State made it 5-0 with two more runs in the fourth. Neumann walked and came home on a Garrett Svoboda single while Logelin produced another RBI double that scored Madsen, who walked.
Wayne State came up with two more runs in the sixth for a 7-1 lead. Barnes walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by Madsen while Logelin walked and scored on a double by Andrew Hanson for the second run of the inning.
Wayne State added two runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth to close out the scoring. Noah Roberts walked in the seventh and scored on a Svoboda RBI single while Chris Cornish walked and came home on Madsen’s RBI double down the right field line. Wayne State’s run in the eighth came on a sacrifice fly from Bryce Bisenius after Hanson tripled.
Madsen was 3-for-3 with a double, three RBI, three stolen bases and two runs scored. Logelin went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and two runs scored while Hanson was 2-for-5 with a triple and double. Svoboda ended 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and two RBI. Senior right hander Hunter Wienhoff worked five innings to earn the pitching win, allowing just one run on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Wayne State returns to play this weekend at Rogers State in Oklahoma for a three-game series, with a doubleheader Saturday starting at 12 p.m. followed by a nine-inning game Sunday at 1 p.m.
