Photo courtesy of Wayne State Athletic Communications: Southwest Minnesota State pitcher Shay Endres throws a pitch during the second game of a doubleheader against the Wayne State Wildcats in Wayne, Neb. on Wednesday afternoon. The Wildcats defeated the Mustangs 5-4 in the first game of the doubleheader before the Mustangs bounced back with an 11-1 win in game 2.

WAYNE, Neb. — After falling shy with a 5-4, extra-innings walk-off loss in the first game of their doubleheader against first-place Wayne State on Wednesday, the Southwest Minnesota State baseball team ran away for a blowout 11-1 win in the second game to salvage a split against the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference’s top team in the standings.

It was Marshall-native Chase Douglas who shattered the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs’ hopes for an extra-innings win in the first game. Noah Cekalla retired each of the first two batters he faced but Carter Thomas reached base with a single down the third baseline. From there, Douglas smashed a double to left-center field to secure the 5-4 walk-off win for Wayne.

The Mustangs led 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning when Wayne State rallied. Thomas was hit by a pitch in the first at-bat of the inning and Douglas singled to put the tying run at the plate. 

A throwing error on a fielder’s choice allowed Colin Lynam to drive in Thomas and Trey Wells doubled to left-center field to drive in Douglas. Quinn McCafferty then hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Lynam to tie the game 4-4. Neither team scored again for the remainder of regulation.

In the first at-bat of the game, Chase McDaniel hit a triple to become the fourth Mustang baseball player to reach 200 career hits. Shortly thereafter, McDaniel scored on an Owen Latendresse sacrifice Bunt to give SMSU the game’s first run.

The Mustangs and Wildcats were tied going into the fifth but the Mustangs surged forward to grab the lead in the top of the inning. Peyton Nash walked and advanced to third on a wild pitch and a groundout. Sitting 90 feet from home plate with two outs, Nash scored on a McDaniel RBI single. Isaac Nett then blasted a home run to right-center field in the next at-bat to give SMSU a 4-1 advantage.

Ansen Dulas pitched the first four innings for the Mustangs, surrendering one run on two hits and four walks. He also struck out six batters before leaving the game without a decision.

The lone run he allowed came in the bottom of the first. Thomas hit a leadoff single and, after Dulas struck out Douglas, Lynam lined a double to right field to drive in Thomas for the tying run. Still, Dulas got two of the next three batters he faced out to end the inning with the game still tied.

Jackson Shelbure started on the hill for the Wildcats, also pitching the first four innings with one run allowed. He held the Mustangs to three hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

After Eli Crnkovisch allowed three runs on two hits in the fifth, Brody Sintek pitched one perfect inning of relief while Braden Cannon pitched two no-hit innings of relief for the Wildcats. Cannon allowed just one walk while striking out three of the seven batters he faced. He improves to 2-0 on the year after picking up the win.

Kobe Lovell allowed two earned runs and one unearned over 1 1/3 innings of relief for SMSU while Bennett Knapper and Cameron Jensen each pitched 2/3 innings. Knapper allowed one hit and one walk while Jensen didn’t allow a baserunner. 

SMSU 11, WSC 1

While the first game of the day was decided in extra innings, the second game of the day was effectively decided in the third and sealed by the sixth.

With the game tied at 1-1, the Mustangs scored four third-inning runs to take control of the game. Chase McDaniel started the inning off with a single and scored on an Isaac Nett triple. From there, Latendresse clubbed a double to score Nett and a Jaxon Haase double and Nash single made the score 5-1.

Haase also scored Max Kalenberg home with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Still, it was the sixth where all the stars aligned for the Mustangs.

Brady Petron was hit by a pitch in the first at-bat of the inning and, after Tauer walked to put two runners on, McDaniel sent a ball down the right-field line for a three-run homer. 

After the Wildcats made a pitching change, Nett got hit by a pitch and Cody Wichmann pinch ran for him at first base. A Latendresse double with two outs put runners on second and third, a failed fielder’s choice scored Wichmann and another Haase sacrifice fly scored Latendresse.

Shay Endres pitches the complete game for SMSU, holding the Wildcats to five hits and three walks. He also struck out seven of the 27 batters he faced. Wayne State, meanwhile, played five pitchers in the game.

With the split against the Wildcats, SMSU improves to 18-12 overall and 12-9 in conference. Now tied with Sioux Falls for sixth in the NSIC, the Mustangs will try to make up some more ground in the standings when they take on fifth-place Minnesota Crookston (18-11, 12-7 NSIC) on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s doubleheader will start at 1:30 p.m. while Sunday’s one-off game is slated for noon.