DETROIT -- The Wayne State University baseball team (14-15, 8-8 GLIAC) stayed at .500 in league games this season with a Saturday split against Tiffin (12-19, 6-8 GLIAC) at WSU Baseball Field. The Dragons took advantage of a seventh-inning throwing error to win game one 3-2 but the Warriors scored in three of the first four innings of game two to win 5-4.
Game One (L, 2-3)Wayne State took a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Nate Manis (Port Huron, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) began the frame with a five-pitch walk. He later came around to score on a
Cole Clifton (Sterling Heights. Mich. / De La Salle) RBI single.
Devin Rose (Farmington Hills, Mich. / Orchard Lake St. Mary's) started the bottom of the second inning with a double to right center field and Manis drove him home with a single through the right side.
A hit-by-pitch and a WSU throwing error led to a sacrifice fly RBI for Tiffin in the top of the third inning to cut deficit in half.
Starter
Kyle Zimmerman (Frankfort, Mich.) (2-4) held the Dragons scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings. However, TU used two hits in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2 on an RBI single from Cody Spires.
Tiffin smacked a one-out double to begin its rally in the top of the seventh inning. With two outs and after a walk, a WSU throwing error allowed the go-ahead run to score.
Pinch-hitter
Travis Rodery (Wyandotte, Mich. / Roosevelt) walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. The next two Warriors were retired by TU's starter Logan Sendelbach (3-3) to secure the victory.
Zimmerman allowed two earned runs and struck out four batters in his seven innings of work.
Game Two (W, 5-4)After a one-out triple from Clifton, a sacrifice fly off the bat of
Bradley Baldwin (Troy, Mich. / Bishop Foley Catholic) staked the Warriors to an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second inning, WSU scored two runs to extend their lead to 3-0. Baldwin and Zimmerman collected RBIs in the frame.
Two hits and a WSU error allowed two runs to score two runs in the top of the fourth inning to trim the deficit to 3-2.
An RBI from Manis and a run-scoring Tiffin error gave the Warriors a 5-2 lead after four innings.
The Dragons added a run in the fifth inning on an RBI single down the right field line by Elijah Sanabria. However, Dennis Olszewski (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Gabriel Richard) gunned down Sanabria trying to extend his hit into a double.
Both teams were quiet in the sixth and seventh innings.
Jake Davis (Rochester, Mich. / Stoney Creek) replaced starter
Jared Tobey (St. Clair, Mich.) (5-1) to begin the seventh inning.
The Dragons used WSU's second error of the game and a hit to trim deficit to a run, 5-4, in the eighth inning.
Jeff Sorenson (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson) record his fourth save of the season by retiring Tiffin in order in the top of the ninth inning. Sorenson threw just nine pitches in the frame.
Tobey won his fourth straight game by pitching six innings and striking out seven batters while allowing three earned runs on six hits.
Wayne State will conclude the series and a 10-game home stand with a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at noon.