April 15, 2008

Box Score

DETROIT - The Wayne State University baseball team (18-11) won for the eighth time in nine games Tuesday afternoon, earning an 8-5 victory against Concordia University (18-13).

The Warriors scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and held their ground as Concordia rallied late in the game. Brady Cooper (Allen Park, Mich.) pitched five solid innings for Wayne State to earn the win, and reliever Tyler Loehr (Brighton, Mich.) picked up his first save.

All nine WSU starters had at least one hit, with Matthew Williams (Detroit, Mich./Royal Oak Shrine), Michael Wiseman (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland), and Adam Kaminski (Clinton Twp., Mich./Mt. Clemens) totaling two apiece. Wiseman and Kaminski each drove in a pair of runs as well.

Wayne State collected five hits and went through its entire order in the opening frame. After a leadoff double by Drew Churchward (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and a walk by Williams, a double steal put both runners in scoring position. Consecutive base hits by Ryan LaPensee (LaSalle, Ont./St. Thomas of Villanova) and Wiseman brought them in, and LaPensee would come around to score on a single by Kaminski. Wiseman scored on a wild pitch, and Kaminski was plated on a single by Caleb Dalman (Hudsonville, Mich.).

A sacrifice fly by Williams made it a 6-0 game in the fourth but Concordia, who had just two hits in the first four innings against Cooper, cut its deficit to four on a two-run blast to center by Adam Goodwin.

Kaminski's groundout to short in the fifth brought in Wiseman, who tripled to start the inning, but two more runs for the Cardinals in the seventh brought them to within three. Wayne State reliever David White (Taylor, Mich./Kennedy) escaped a bases-loaded jam with two outs, forcing Zach Johnston - the potential go-ahead run - to popout to short.

The teams exchanged a run each in their last at-bats, as Wiseman drove in his second run of the game in the eighth and Ben Sprague hit a solo home run over the left field wall.

Cooper (1-1) surrendered just two runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts. White and Loehr worked the final four innings and gave up a combined three runs on four hits.

Wayne State hosts Saginaw Valley State for a GLIAC doubleheader Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.

NOTES
Wayne State is 10-0 all-time against Concordia, dating back to 1986 ... Cooper matched his career-high of 5.0 innings, set April 1 at St. Joseph's ... Tom Olson (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley), primarily used as a relief pitcher, made his first career start in left field ... he earned his first hit (single), stolen base, and run scored - which proved to be the game-winner - in the fourth inning ... Churchward was 9-for-9 on stolen base attempts this season, including a swipe in the first inning, before being caught in the sixth ... Williams stole two bases, his fifth game with two steals this year ... the Warriors are 8-1 when Wiseman bats fourth in the lineup.