Wayne State baseball fended off final inning rallies in both games to defeat Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Conference baseball Wednesday afternoon in Wayne. The Wildcats won the opener 5-4 followed by a 4-3 win in the second contest.

The opener saw WSC take a 4-0 lead into the top of the seventh, only to see the visiting Mustangs produce four runs in the top of the frame.

The Wildcats then used a pair of walks and a fielder’s choice to load the bases and a walk off wild pitch to win the game 5-4.

WSC opened the scoring in the second on a junior Garrett Graveline groundout to score senior David Janes, who reached on a single, for a 1-0 lead.

Junior Travis Miller belted a two-run homer over the left field wall in the third, putting the ’Cats ahead 3-0.

Senior Tanner Simons doubled in the fifth and scored on a wild pitch for a 4-0 lead.

Sophomore starter Aidan Breedlove took a shutout into the seventh, but the Mustangs rallied with four runs on four hits and one Wildcat error to even the score at 4-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, pinch hitter senior Rob Ramsey walked. Pinch runner junior Jake Lorenzini went to second on an intentional pass to Simons. Sophomore Jackson Petersen reached on a fielder’s choice, when SMSU failed to cover second base, to load the bases. Lorenzini then scored on a wild pitch for the game winning run.

Relieving pitcher sophomore Lawson Zenner picked up the win, retiring one batter in the seventh inning. Breedlove was charged with four runs, only one earned, on six hits with nine strikeouts.

The second game saw sophomore starter Hunter Wienhoff hold off a SMSU rally in the ninth inning as the right-hander fired a complete game win with 10 strikeouts on 124 pitches to give WSC a 4-3 win.

Similar to the first game, WSC built an early 4-0 advantage, scoring one in the first, two more in the third and one in the fourth inning.

Miller had an RBI double in the first to bring in junior Bryce Bisenius, who had doubled.

WSC took a 3-0 lead in the third on a Miller RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Janes.

The ’Cats used an RBI single from sophomore Peyton Barnes in the fourth for a 4-0 lead scoring Lorenzini, who walked.

SMSU got on the scoreboard in the fifth with a solo homer to make the score 4-1.

Wienhoff took a three-hitter into the ninth, but again the Mustangs would not quit coming up with two runs on three hits and one Wildcat error to make the score 4-3. Wienhoff used a strikeout and fly out to centerfield to end the contest and preserve the win.