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 Drew Churchward was 5-for-6 with three RBI and four runs in the second game Saturday. |
April 26, 2008
DETROIT - The 27th-ranked Wayne State baseball team (27-12, 20-2 GLIAC) posted its highest single-game run total since 1999 in a 25-2 victory over Northwood (19-21, 6-18 GLIAC) in Saturday's second game.
Matching their season-high with 22 hits, the Warriors won their 20th conference game of the season, second-most in school history since WSU joined the GLIAC in 1976. The 23-run margin of victory is the largest since a 25-1 win over MIT in 1978.
Drew Churchward (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) went 5-for-6 with three RBI and four runs scored to pace the Warrior offense. Ryan LaPensee (LaSalle, Ont./St. Thomas of Villanova), who also drove in four runs in the first game Saturday, and Charlie Dunneback (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge) each notched four RBI. Twelve different WSU batters had at least one hit including all nine starters.
Wayne State registered 21 unanswered runs in the first four innings. In similar fashion to Saturday's opener, the Warriors scored nine runs and sent 13 men to the plate in the first inning highlighted by a costly Northwood error that ultimately led to four unearned runs as well as a rare two-run sacrifice fly by Matthew Williams (Detroit, Mich./Royal Oak Shrine).
After an RBI single by Scott Martin (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) made it a 10-0 game in the second inning, the Warriors exploded for six more runs in the third, all of which came with two outs. Dunneback plated a pair with a single to left and, after Matt Cunningham (Gregory, Mich./Chelsea) scored on a wild pitch, an RBI double by Martin and an RBI single by Churchward gave the Warriors a 16-run lead.
In WSU's five-run fourth inning, Dunneback, Churchward, and Michael Wiseman (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland) each contributed an RBI single while LaPensee had a two-run base hit up the middle.
Northwood ended the shutout bid with a run in the top of the sixth, but Wayne State responded with four runs in the bottom half. Williams brought in Tom Olson (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) with a groundout, and John Skaggs (Adrian, Mich.) doubled in two runs and later scored on a base hit by Caleb Dalman (Hudsonville, Mich.).
Starting pitcher Dane Little (Windsor, Ont./F.J. Brennan Catholic) gave up just two hits and a walk with six strikeouts in four innings to improve to 4-3 on the year. Brady Cooper (Allen Park, Mich.), Robby Foscarin (Toronto, Ont./Michael Power St. Joseph), and Tyler Hill (Mississauga, Ont./St. Michael's) each worked an inning in relief.
Wayne State and Northwood will meet again in a doubleheader Sunday starting at noon.
NOTES
Wayne State's 25 runs marks its highest total since a 27-7 win over Northwood on March 27, 1999 ... WSU had not scored over 20 runs in a game since May 11, 2001 at Hillsdale (22) ... prior to Churchward, the last Warrior with five hits in a game was Ron Kochan against Detroit on May 6, 2003 ... Churchward also stole two bases in the first inning ... the school record for conference wins in a season is 24, set in 1999.