A losing skid plagued the Wayne State College baseball squad the past week as the Wildcats have lost a season-high five straight games.

WSC dropped a doubleheader at Bemidji State Thursday afternoon as the Wildcats suffered 2-1 and 7-3 losses to the Beavers.

In the opener, Bemidji State’s Derek Masberg edged Wayne State’s John Roberts in a pitcher’s duel as the Wildcats were held to just one hit in a 2-1 loss to the Beavers.

“John threw a great game in his mid-week start on Thursday and really gave us a nice chance of winning,” head coach Brian Disch said.

Roberts allowed just two runs on seven hits over five innings with eight strikeouts and one walk in a losing effort.

Wayne State’s lone run and hit of the game came in the second inning when Nick McIntee walked and later scored on Skye O’Neil’s double to right center field, giving the ‘Cats a 1-0 lead.

WSC senior first baseman CJ Nolen saw a 14-game hit streak come to an end in the loss after going 0 for 3.

In game two, the Beavers scored seven runs in the third and fourth innings to overcome an early 3-0 deficit as Bemidji State completed the sweep.

WSC took a 1-0 lead in the first as Michael Herman doubled while Zak Leighton, who singled to open the game, scored. The Wildcats were able to tack on two more runs to stretch the lead to 3-0.

But the Beavers took the lead for good with four runs in the third and added three more runs in the fourth for a 7-3 lead.

The bats struggled when the ‘Cats took a visit to Southwest Minnesota State over the weekend, when the Wildcats were held to just 16 hits over the span of 3 games.

“We really struggled at the plate and weren’t very patient,” Disch said. “We were reaching out of the zone a lot and not getting very good contact.”

Saturday’s doubleheader showed the ‘Cats scoring one run total as WSC was held to just four hits in game one and five hits in game two.

In the opener, the host Mustangs scored four runs in the first inning to fuel their 5-0 win over the Wildcats.

The four hits by the ‘Cats were provided by a double by Jake Perez, and singles by Nolen, Alex Schleppenbach and O’Neil.

The second game showed another low-scoring contest with the Mustangs prevailing 3-1.

SMSU scored two runs in the second for a 2-0 lead, while the ‘Cats scored their lone run of the day in the third inning on a Schleppenbach solo homer to right field.

On Sunday, the Wildcats fell 12-3 in game one of what was supposed to be a doubleheader at SMSU. Game two was canceled due to weather.

The host Mustangs scored at least one run in every inning during the seven-inning contest, highlighted by a five-run fourth inning to put the game out of reach.

“We really need to regroup in the upcoming weeks,” Disch said. “These next few games will show what we’re made of as a team.”

The Wildcats will travel to face Minnesota Crookston over the weekend in a four-game set.

Score by Innings R H E

Wayne State (Neb.).. 010 000 0 – 1 1 0
Bemidji State……….. 020 000 X – 2 7 0

Wayne State (Neb.).. 102 000 000 – 3 6 1
Bemidji State……….. 004 300 00X – 7 11 2

Wayne State (Neb.).. 000 000 0 – 0 4 0
Southwest Minn……. 400 010 X – 5 8 2

Wayne State (Neb.).. 001 000 000 -1 5 0
Southwest Minn…..020 000 01X – 3 8 1

Wayne State (Neb.).. 010 000 2 – 3 7 0
Southwest Minn……. 111 513 X – 12 12 0