The Wayne State College Wildcat baseball team had a five-game stretch against two conference opponents, the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs and the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears, taking home only one win during that period.
The Wildcats and Mustangs played a doubleheader in Wayne on Wednesday, April 10. The first game saw the Mustangs strike first, scoring one run in the first inning. The Wildcats immediately answered back off a Colin Lynam double that brought Carter Thomas home. SMSU plated three more runs in the fifth, only to be once again answered by WSC. Lynam once again sent Thomas home, this time on a fielder’s choice. Trey Wells hit an RBI double, bringing home Chase Douglas. Then Colin Lynam scored off a Quinn McCafferty sacrifice lineout.
In the eighth inning, with two outs, Thomas hit an infield single, reaching first on a diving effort to claim first base. Thomas once again crossed home plate after a Douglas walk-off double in the gap in the left center, giving the Wildcats the lone victory of the week, 5-4.
Game two of the doubleheader once again saw both teams score in the first. The Wildcats got on the board with a Wells single that allowed Douglas to score. This was the only run for the Wildcats, as they went on to lose 11-1, mustering only five hits and left five baserunners stranded.
After splitting with SMSU, the Wildcats travelled to St. Paul, Minnesota to tangle with the Golden Bears of CSP. A doubleheader was played on Sat. April 13. There was no score in the game until the fourth inning, when the Wildcats gave up two runs, and then another in the fifth. Dougals scored off a Wells groundout in the sixth inning, but no comeback was made as CSP responded with a seven-run frame to put the game out of reach. Wildcats dropped game one 10-1, once again with only five hits in the contest. Seven runners were left on base, and only a single Wildcat error was made.
Game two saw much more offensive production from both teams, with a Kaden Young two-run homer to get things rolling in the second inning. Max Heard and Braden Cannon both got home off a Thomas double. Lynam brought home Thomas after hitting a single, and then Lynam himself crossed home plate after Wells hit a double. McCafferty hit a two-run homer himself, and the inning was capped off by Young hitting another homerun, this one a solo shot. The Wildcats led 9-2 after giving up two runs to end the second inning.
In the third, WSC added to the lead, with Douglas hitting a two-run homerun, scoring himself and Lynam. However, the Golden Bears inched closer after plating six runners in the bottom half of the inning. Young hit another homerun, his third of the game, and another solo, to get the Wildcats to 12 runs in the fourth inning. CSP brought home four more runners themselves, and it was 12 all after four innings of play.
The Wildcats scored a single run in the sixth after a McCafferty groundout allowed Lynam to score, and again in the ninth off yet another Young solo shot. However, the Wildcats came up short after CSP scored once in the fifth, twice in the seventh, and three in the eighth, as the Wildcats fell in game two by a score of 18-14.
Sunday’s game marked the end of the series, with CSP already winning the series. After homeruns by Thomas, who hit a two-run homer, and Douglas, a solo, in the third, the Wildcats found themselves tied with CSP heading into the fourth inning. This tie did not last long as CSP went go on to score three more times in the fourth and once more in the seventh. Wildcat bats stayed silent until the eighth, when Nick Barnett’s single led to Wells coming into score. However, the Wildcats once again fell short as the final score was 7-4 in favor of the Golden Bears.
The Wildcats now sit at 21-12 on the season, and look to bounce back Wednesday, April 17 against Augustana in a doubleheader, and against the St. Cloud State Huskies in a three game series on Saturday, April 20 and Sunday April 21. Both series are scheduled to be played at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex on the campus of WSC.