It is always important to get off to a good start in conference play, which is exactly what the Wayne State College baseball team did this weekend.

The Wildcats swept Minnesota-Duluth in a doubleheader, 2-0 and 5-3, on Sunday afternoon.

In game one, the Wildcats’ pitching played a major role in the victory. Eric Browning notched 10 strikeouts over 6 innings and WSC made the most of their 5 hits in a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs.

“Eric gave us a great start and coach (Josh) Merrigan called a great game. Eric executed his pitches,” head coach Brian Disch said.

Browning improved to 2-2 on the season by allowing just two hits over six innings with three walks.

Sophomore reliever Curtis Bussard earned the save in the seventh inning, fanning two of the three batters he faced.

The second game saw the Wildcats build an early 3-0 lead, then hold off a pair of UMD rallies for the 5-3 win.

WSC struck for three runs in the third inning to take the early advantage. After UMD scored two runs in the fifth to make the score 3-2, the Wildcats countered with a single run in the bottom of the sixth for a 4-2 lead as Jake Perez doubled and scored on a Bulldog throwing error.

“Our hitters did a good job in the second game of responding to UMD’s scoring runs,” coach Disch said. “Michael Herman had a big two-out RBI single in the eighth to give us a 5-3 lead.”

Wildcat starter Dylan McGill earned the pitching win, improving to 2-1 on the season. He lasted six innings and gave up five hits and two runs with three strikeouts and one walk.

Bussard pitched the ninth inning and had two strikeouts and one walk with one hit to earn his second save of the day and third overall this season.

Wayne State will play in Sioux City against Morningside on Wednesday before returning home to play two doubleheaders over the weekend against Northern State.

Box Scores R H E

Minn. Dul… 000 000 0 – 0 2 3
WSC……….. 000 110 X – 2 5 1

Minn. Dul… 000 020 010 – 3 9 2
WSC……….. 003 001 01X -5 8