DETROIT -- The 13th-ranked Wayne State University baseball team (23-8 overall, 7-5 GLIAC) lost for the third straight time on Sunday, 7-4, vs. Purdue Northwest (13-14 overall, 9-3 GLIAC) as the Pride won the series three games to one.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Two hits and a walk allowed PNW to take an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  The Pride added a run in the top of the third inning on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.

After threatening with one-out doubles in the first and second innings plus two singles in the third, the Warriors finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning with a Justin Kelly (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton Warrenville South) double followed by a Rudy Ramirez (Brighton, Mich.) RBI single to left center.  Jack Schmidt (Fishers, Ind. / Indianapolis Catherdral) followed with another double but a foul out and a ground out allowed the visitors to limit the damage.

Purdue Northwest extended its lead to 5-1 with two runs on two hits and two walks in the top of the fifth inning.  The deficit grew to six as the Pride scored twice more on two hits and two walks in the top of the sixth inning.  Hunter DeLanoy (Hartland, Mich.) tripled to right center to begin the bottom of the sixth inning before Kelly drove him in with an RBI groundout.

Schmidt tripled off the wall in left center to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning.  Noah Miller (Macomb, Mich. / University Liggett) plated a run with a groundout to first base.  Jacob Finkbeiner (Saline, Mich.) singled to center field and Michael MacLean (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / Country Day / The Lawrenceville School) followed with a walk.  Tristen Jorah (Clinton Twp., Mich. / Sterling Heights Stevenson) cut the deficit to three with an RBI double down the left field line.  DeLanoy, representing the tying run, came to plate but flied out to left field to end the game and the comeback attempt.

AT THE PLATE
Finkbeiner finished 3-for-4 with a run scored, while MacLean, Ramirez and Schmidt all posted two-hit performances.  Jorah, Kelly, Ramirez and Miller tallied RBI.

ON THE MOUND
Josh Nelson (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Saline) (1-1) allowed three earned runs over four innings on four hits and three walks, while striking out four.  Brennan Cox (Taylor, Mich. / Riverview Gabriel Richard) pitched for the third straight day and allowed two runs in his inning of work.  Richard Hovde (Saline, Mich.) struck out three batters in three and 2/3 innings, while allowing two runs on five hits and three walks.  Brendan Wetmore (Westland, Mich. / John Glenn) threw one pitch and recorded one out in the ninth inning.

UP NEXT
Wayne State continues its home stand against a nationally-ranked Ashland program on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the first of four games.