Box Score Photo Gallery | Tournament Central
XENIA, Ohio -- The second-seeded Wayne State University baseball team (34-14) dropped a heartbreaking GLIAC Tournament opener against fifth-seeded Saginaw Valley State (20-23) on Thursday afternoon. The Warriors trailed 12-2 after a seven-run sixth inning but a record-setting bottom of the sixth inning put WSU back on top. WSU scored a program record 11 runs to take a 13-12 lead.
However, a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning gave the Cardinals a 14-13 lead and would add a run for the 15-13 victory.
SVSU started the scoring with a run on the top of the second and took a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning with three runs on four hits and a Warrior error.
Cameron Walker (Clinton Twp., Mich. / De La Salle) connected for a two-run blast over the left field wall, cutting SVUS's lead in half 4-2.
An RBI triple from Luke Valutis gave the Cardinals a 5-2 lead and knocked starter
Alex Kinch (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer) from the game. SVSU scored seven runs on five hits off of
Jimmy Jackson (Battle Creek, Mich. / Pennfield) and
Jake Davis (Rochester, Mich. / Stoney Creek) to take a 12-2 lead.
Eric Cunningham (LaSalle, Ont. / St. Thomas of Villanova),
Zach Johnson (Grandville, Mich.),
A.J. Matos (Southgate, Mich. / Detroit Western),
Travis Rodery (Wyandotte, Mich. / Roosevelt),
Kyle Zimmerman (Frankfort, Mich.) and
Griffin Harms (Bingham Farms, Mich. / Birmingham Groves) all picked up RBIs in the frame, with 10 of the 11 runs coming with two outs. Harms gave the Warriors the lead with a three-run triple.
Brock Bates (Delta, Ohio / Evergreen) (0-2) entered to begin the top of the seventh inning. Bates retied the two batters he faced before allowing a single and a two-run home run to put SVSU back on top.
Jeff Sorenson (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson) replaced Bates in the top of the eighth inning to collect the final out of the inning.
A one-out single from Harms in the bottom of the eighth inning was erases with an inning-ending fly ball double play to left field.
The Cardinals added a run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single through the left side.
Matos drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth inning but that would be all WSU could muster as Andrew Geese collected his first save of the season. Eight of the nine batters in the lineup collected a hit with six Warriors posting multi-hits games.
WSU will play the loser of the Ashland and Grand Valley contest at 10:30 AM on Friday.
