The Wayne State College Wildcats baseball team went 2-2 last weekend Feb. 18 through the 20 at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri.  

The Wildcats lost their season opener against Missouri S&T 10-8 Saturday, Feb.  18. The Miners started off ahead by two runs after the first inning. The Wildcats came back and scored three runs in the top of the second inning to take the lead to 3-2 over the Miners. Scores in the top of the second were by catcher Kyler Essink, Hunter Babe with the RBI and Caden Lynam tripled to left field. Tommy Roland came in for the third run for WSC in the second. 

Halfway through the first game, in the fifth Babe got a two-run double bringing home Quin McCafferty, who walked, and Colin Lynam, who singled. Toward the end of the game, in the top of the sixth inning Collin Lynam got a two-out rally bringing home Cade Lynam, who walked, and McCafferty, who singled, reducing Missouri S&T to 10-8 which became the final game score. 

The WSC Wildcats turned it around on Sunday winning both of their games. They won the first game by one run 6-5. The opening game on Sunday was a close one with a home run by the Miners and a WSC challenging if the batter touched home plate. The call went in favor of the Wildcats making it out three.  

Miners being called out helped the Wildcats win by one point. Missouri S&T got one run in the first, one run in the second and one run in the fourth inning bringing the score to 3-0 heading into the fifth. The Wildcats came back in the sixth inning with four runs. In the seventh inning, WSC got two runs one from a double by Babe and a the second by pinch runner Noah Strizek scoring off a single by Roland. The Wildcats led 6-3.  

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Miners got two runs, one from a hit batter and a single to score two runs bringing the score to 6-3. The Miners got a three-run homer but were called out due to the batter not touching home plate, resulting in a 6-5 win for the Wildcats.  

In the second game on Sunday, Feb. 19, Nathan Anderson and Braden Cannon combined in a three-hitter for the Wildcats, getting the only two points of the game and winning 2-1 over the Missouri S&T Miners. The Wildcats scored in the first inning from McCafferty got walked, stole second, stole third on a wild pitch and came home when Colin Lynam got out on a pop fly.  

The Miners scored in the bottom of the third to tie the game at one a piece. In the top of the fourth inning, Essink got a two-out solo homer over left field to bring the score to 2-1 for the Wildcats. There were no more runs by either team the rest of the game and WSC won 2-1.  

The Wildcats lost on Monday, Feb. 20 8-1. The Miners got an early lead scoring four runs in the first inning. An error by WSC and three walks got Missouri S&T four runs. In the second inning, the Miners scored five times bringing the score to 5-0. Jack Jones scored the only run of the game for the Wildcats, bringing the final score to 8-1. 

Both the Wildcats and the Miners are 2-2 on their season. WSC plays a four game non-conference series at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri Friday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m.