DETROIT -- With time running out in the regular season and in need of series victories to solidify its postseason aspirations, the Wayne State University baseball team (17-17-1, 11-10-1 GLIAC) swept Saturday's doubleheader against the first-place Northwood Timberwolves (21-17, 14-8 GLIAC), winning both games 4-1.
The Warriors are 8-5-1 within the North Division, which is good for second place. The top two teams from each division make the GLIAC Tournament plus the next two teams with the best overall conference record.
In between the two games the 2005 baseball team, which won the regular season title and was the first team in program history to advance to the NCAA Tournament, was honored and Frank Jeney threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Game One (W, 4-1)Making his final start on the mound at home in his career,
Kyle Zimmerman (Frankfort, Mich.) (3-4) helped his own cause with an RBI single through the left side in the bottom of the first inning to open the scoring.
Northwood picked up a hit in each of the next three innings but Zimmerman was able to keep WSU staked to a 1-0 lead. The Timberwolves finally broke through in the top of the fifth inning on a Warrior throwing error.
With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning,
Dennis Olszewski (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Gabriel Richard) doubled down the left field line.
Bradley Baldwin (Troy, Mich. / Bishop Foley Catholic) singled home Olszewski to give the Warriors the lead and Nate Manis (Port Huron, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) scored on a NU throwing error. Another error charged to the visitors allowed the third run of the inning to cross home plate and put WSU ahead 4-1.
Zimmerman kept Northwood off the bases over the final two innings to collect his fourth complete game of the season. He finished with seven strikeouts while allowing one unearned run on four hits to trim his season ERA to 3.22.
Game Two (W, 4-1)Both teams went scoreless through the first two innings to begin game two of the four-game series. An RBI single from Nick Barrientos in the top of the third inning put Northwood up 1-0.
Jared Tobey (St. Clair, Mich.) settled in and stymied NU over the next two innings.
Jeff Sorenson (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson) replaced Tobey after a lead off walk in the top of the seventh inning and was able to keep the deficit at 1-0.
Manis ripped a single through the left side to drive home
Aaron Loconsole (Macomb, Mich. / Marine City). Another RBI from Baldwin gave the home team a 2-1 advantage.
Sorenson struck out the side on 14 pitches in the top of the eight inning to keep the momentum in the WSU dugout.
Manis singled home another run before Olszewski gave the Warriors a 4-2 lead with his own RBI single.
Sorenson struck out two more batters in the ninth inning on his way to his third win of the season and struck out a career-high six batters. Manis led the offense with a 3-for-5 performance with two RBIs.
WSU and Northwood will conclude the series on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at noon. The six Warrior seniors will be honored prior to first pitch.
