Baseball takes two of three against Wayne

Mavericks took two more games Friday before losing to Wayne St. on Sunday

Aaron Young
Staff Writer

The Mavericks continued their winning ways against the Cougars of Wayne State, taking the first games of the series Friday before having their winning streak snapped by the same team Saturday.

In the first game against the Cougars, the Mavs wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. They scored five runs in the first inning, exploding out of the gate. 

Beginning with a single and a double from both senior catcher Tom Imholte and freshman infielder Nick Altermatt, the Mavs scored off an error with senior outfielder Jordan Hart at the plate. 

Starting pitcher Cam Kline brought two home later in the inning off a single to left field, extending the lead to four. 

Junior infielder Teddy Peterson would then score from first based off miscommunication between Wayne State’s catcher and first baseman. 

The Mavs would also follow up with a run in the second off a sacrifice fly from Kline bringing in Hart. The squad would continue their domination in the fifth inning, putting five runs on the board, and essentially putting the nail on the coffin for any chance of the Wayne State Cougars coming back. 

Hart would send both redshirt sophomore Jack Waletich and Altermatt home off a double to right field. 

Later on, Kline would triple, brining everybody on base home for the 11-0 lead.

Wayne State did get two runs in the fifth but the Mavs defense didn’t allow anymore.

Kline was the player of the game, dominating on the mound through six innings and going 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs at the plate.

The second game was too close for the Mavericks comfort, stretching to 10 innings and a rally for the Mavericks. This time through, Wayne State looked to spoil the Mavs chance of winning as they got three runs in the first. 

The first run happened with the bases loaded, as freshman Noah Miller got hit by a pitch, before Colin Chick singled, bringing home two runs. 

Despite being down three, the Mavericks didn’t give up as they began rallying back in the third inning as Imholte would groundout to bring home the run. 

Later in the fifth, the Mavs responded once again, this time scoring two and tying the game at three apiece. 

With the bases loaded, Imholte sent a runner home off a double play which was followed by a single by Altermatt that allowed Waletich to score. 

Neither team would score until the bottom of the 10th after a single off the bat of redshirt junior infielder Ty Buck that would send Hart home for the walk-off win. 

The Mavericks winning streak would come to an end in the final game of the series. 

Wayne State scored seven unanswered runs in the first four innings before the Mavericks got within two in the following two innings. However, the Cougars proved to be too much for the Mavs in the series finale, securing the win with two more runs in the seventh inning. 

Hart and Buck led the team with two hits and two RBIs each, and freshman pitcher Jack Zigan earned the loss after giving up three in the first inning. 

Next up for the Mavs is a doubleheader against the Augustana Vikings on the road scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

Header photo by Mansoor Ahmad | MSU Reporter.