Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Wayne State College edged out Upper Iowa on the baseball diamond on a cold, rainy day in Fayette.  The Wildcats posted a 3-2 victory in the first game and a 5-3 win in game two.  UIU rallied in both games, but came up short as the Wayne State pitching staff stymied each rally prior to the tying runs reached the plate.  With the losses, Upper Iowa falls to 10-26 overall and 3-19 in the NSIC.

Game One

The Wildcats scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning after the leadoff hitter reached first after being hit by a pitch.  Wayne State followed with a sac bunt and a single to put runners on first and third with one out.  A sac fly by Michael Herman plated the first Wildcat run and Jake Perez delivered the second run with a single to left.

Wayne State threatened to add to their lead in the fifth after a leadoff double and Peacock error led to runners on second and third with one out.  Mitch Moser snagged a hard grounder with the infield in at short for the second out.  After a walk loaded the bases, Peacock starter Jake Barron got a flyball on the infield to end the threat.

C.J. Nolen gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead with a solo homerun to right off reliever Dan Cwertniak in the sixth.  

Tyler Adams led off the sixth inning with his second single to centerfield.  After two outs, the Peacocks still had a runner on first, but a single and Wildcat error put runners on the corners for UIU.  Alex George picked up an rbi with a single to right for Upper Iowa's first run.  A walk to Jacob Stenberg loaded the bases and a walk to Moser plated the second run of the frame.  Wayne State's second reliever, Ryan Zweck, came in to shut the door on the home team's rally with a strikeout stranding three Peacocks on the bases.

Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, Adams walked with one out, but was stranded as Curtis Bussard earned his seventh save. 

Browning improved to 7-3 with the victory, while Barron dropped to 0-3 on the season.  

Barron threw five innings allowing two runs on four hits while striking out three batters.  Cwertniak allowed just one run on two hits in his two innings of relief.

At the plate, Adams and George had two hits apiece, while Dobson added the final hit for Upper Iowa.

Game Two

A pair of walks and an rbi-single from Michael Herman in the first inning gave Wayne State an early 1-0 lead.

Wayne State opened the door in the second inning with an error to allow UIU a runner on with no outs.  With two outs, Eric Cottrell singled up the middle to place runners at the corners.  Wildcat starter John Roberts closed the chance for runs with a strikeout.

In the third, WSC added another run when Herman hit a sac fly to left scoring Bussard, who walked with one out.

With two outs in the fourth, Wayne State used a pair of hits including an infield single and rbi-double to the gap in left by Alex Schleppenbach to extend their lead to 3-0.

The lead pushed to 5-0 in the seventh inning when Wayne State scored a pair of runs on two singles and a sacrifice fly by Herman for his third rbi of the game.

Three singles by Adams, Jose Aguirre and George gave the home team their first run on the board and a Wildcat error allowed a second run across the plate.  With runners on first and second, the rally ended on a fielder's choice as UIU cut the margin to 5-2.

The Peacocks added a third run in the ninth, but stranded a pair of runners on base falling to the Wildcats by a 5-3 final score.  With one out, Sam Kortes doubled down the right field line and moved to third on Adams' third single of the day.  Jordan Kearns drove Kortes home with a fielder's choice after just beating out a relay throw to first as the Wildcats looked to turn two and end the game.  After Aguirre was hit by a pitch, UIU had runners on first and second with two outs, but a ground out picked up by Bussard, WSC's closer, on a tough play was the final out of the game.

Roberts (2-4) picked up the win for Wayne State, while Moser (1-2) suffered the loss after four innings giving up three runs, two were earned, on four hits while striking out six batters.  Blake Seehusen threw 2.2 innings of relief with 4 strikeouts while allowing two runs on five hits.  Miguel Helguera and Matt Meulemans threw 2.1 shutout innings to keep UIU's chances alive.

At the plate, Adams and Aguirre both collected a pair of hits, while four other Peacocks recorded a hit.

Next Up

The Peacocks will close out their Northern Sun Conference season on Friday and Saturday with a home-and-home with Winona State University.  UIU will host the Warriors on Friday and then travel to Winona, Minn. on Saturday.  Both double headers are set to start at 1:30 p.m.