AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- In perhaps the first ever GLIAC games played in Florida, the Wayne State University baseball team (10-7, 2-0 GLIAC) began league play with two wins (3-1 and 7-2) over Ohio Dominican (9-6, 0-2 GLIAC) on Saturday as the Warriors concluded their Spring Break trip to Florida.  

Chris Horvath (Lakeshore, Ont.) (3-1) held the Panthers to one run on five hits while striking out eight batters to lead WSU to the game one victory.  The offense took over in game two, scoring in all but three of the nine innings.

GAME ONE (W, 3-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The seven-inning tilt started slow as both pitchers dominated early.  Wayne State scored first with a run on a Griffin Harms (Bingham Farms, Mich. / Birmingham Groves) RBI single in the top of the fourth inning.  ODU answered with a run on three hits in the bottom of the fourth inning but Horvath was able to limit the damage and leave the bases loaded.

- An infield single from Ryan Mergener (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Portage Central) plated the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth inning.  Brad Baldwin (Troy, Mich. / Bishop Foley Catholic) added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI double into left field.  Ohio Dominican went down in order in its final at-bat as Taylor Horn (Leo, Ind.) struck out the side.

AT THE PLATE
- Both Baldwin and Mergener notched two-hit games and drove in a run each.

ON THE MOUND
- Horvath was sharp, pitching six innings and striking out eight batters for his third win of the season.  Horn earned his second save of the season, striking out the side in his inning of work.

GAME TWO (W, 7-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Mergener produced the games first run with an RBI triple into right field in the top of the first inning.  Another triple, this one from Harms, led off the top of the second inning and he later scored on a passed ball to give WSU a 2-0 advantage.  Justin Kelly (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton Warrenville South) got in on the action and drove an RBI single into left field in the top of the third inning to score on WSU's third run of the game.

- Ohio Dominican scored a run on two hits in the bottom of the third inning.  The Warriors responded with three runs on three hits and an ODU error in the top of the fifth inning.  Harms highlighted the frame with a two-run double, while Mergener also added an RBI to his season total.  Sean Winkelseth (Ypsilanti, Mich.) stretched the lead to 7-1 with an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning.

- The Panthers scored a run on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the eighth inning but would get no closer as WSU swept the doubleheader.

AT THE PLATE
- Winkelseth, Mergener and Harms all collected two hits, while Baldwin scored twice.

ON THE MOUND
- Wayne State used five pitchers during the game two triumph.  Hunter Brown (St. Clair, Mich. / Lakeview) started and pitched three innings, allowing an earned run on four hits.  Nolan Dill (Bowling Green, Ohio) (2-0) earned the victory, tossing three innings and striking out a career-high six batters.  Jared Tobey (St. Clair, Mich.), Josh Nelson (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Saline) and Tyler Tompson (Farmington, Mich. ) did not allow an earned over the final two innings.

UP NEXT
- Wayne State will travel to Indiana for two games at St. Joseph's on March 29 before returning to Detroit for its April 1st home opener.