BISMARCK, ND – In need of both a win and a dominant starting effort, University of Mary junior Isaac Saad provided both for the Marauders in spectacular fashion. Making just his third collegiate start, the right-hander pitched all 11 innings of the Marauders 2-1 extra inning victory over Wayne State College in the opening game of the Northern Sun doubleheader. The Wildcats rallied for a 10-7 win in the night cap to close out the four-game series.
 
Nearly matching his season total of 11.1 innings from his first two starts of the year, Saad pitched nine straight scoreless innings to give the Marauders multiple opportunities to win in a game scheduled for seven innings. In earning his first career win, Saad allowed just seven hits and one walk in 11 innings. He struck out four and hit one batter.
 
The 11 innings pitched by Saad is most likely a Marauders single-game record.
 
Saad threw 145 pitches in the game with 92 in the strike zone. He kept his outfielders busy with 18 fly ball outs to just nine ground ball outs.
 
The Wildcats scored their lone run of the game in the second inning in a 2-out double by Jackson Peterson, the only extra base hit of the game.
 
Mary tied the game in the fifth. Andrew Beyer earned a two-out walk, stole second and took third on an errant throw by Bodie Cooper. Seth Meide then hammered a single to center to score Beyer.
 
After the Marauders run, neither team threatened to score until the 11^th inning.
 
After allowing hits in the 4^th and 5^th innings, Saad retired 18 of the next 19 hitters he faced. The only baserunner in that stretch reached on a Marauders error in the seventh, but Tandon Dorn was quickly eliminated on a Lane Huck laser throw to second as Dorn attempted to advance on a pitch in the dirt. When Bodie Cooper singled with two outs in the 11^th inning, it was the Wildcats first hit since the fifth.
 
In the bottom of the 11^th, leadoff hitter Meide was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a ground out by Barlas. After Huck struck out swinging for the second out, Travis Stevens was intentionally walked. Chris Scott, with two hits already in the game, gave the Marauders their first conference win with a hard ground ball single up the middle, scoring Meide from second without a throw.
 
Meide finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Scott was 3-for-5 with an RBI. Beyer also had a run scored.
 
Cooper and Petersen both had two hits for WSC. Starting pitcher Aiden Breedlove struck out ten Mary hitters in six innings. He allowed five hits and two walks and allowed just one unearned run.
 
Game two featured just as many emotional moments as the opener with the lead changing hands six different times.
 
Wayne State opened with two runs in the first against Mary starter Alec DeMaria. The Marauders sophomore soon found himself and picked up a strikeout and a fly ball to end the inning. He then allowed just one run the next four innings.
 
Three straight singles though the left side in the bottom of the first allowed Mary to push across one run. Beyer hit a one-out single, moved to second on a Barlas hit and scored on a Huck hit through the left side.
 
Mary grabbed the lead in the third with Beyer scoring on a defensive miscue before a double by Scott scored Drew Feuerbach for a 3-2 Marauders lead.
 
After the Wildcats knotted the score in the fourth on a leadoff home run by Aaron Krier to center, Mary moved back in front in the fifth when Barlas scored on a Huck single to left.
 
Wayne State struck for three runs in the sixth, the first two scoring on Krier's second home run of the game to center to force DeMaria out of the game.
 
Trailing 6-4, the offensive fireworks continued in the bottom of the inning as Mary scored three runs of its own. Beyer ripped a 2-run single to right to tie the game. A Stevens single to center scoring Beyer pushed Mary back in front 7-6.
 
Looking for their first doubleheader sweep of the season, Mary's dugout was ready to celebrate after Cory Dixon struck out back-to-back Wildcats hitters after a leadoff single in the top of the seventh inning. Despite being down to their last out of the game, two wild pitches and four straight singles led to four runs for Wayne State, the last two on a Jenkins single to left for a 10-7 lead.
 
The three-run deficit provided too much to overcome. Cody Ghents stroked a two-out single but any hope of a Mary rally to mirror that of Wayne State's ended when Krier made a diving grab of a sinking line drive by Seth Siverson for the final out of the game.
 
Beyer was 3-for-4 in the game, scoring three times and driving in two runs. Huck was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Barlas and Siverson also had two hits each with a run scored.
 
DeMaria worked five innings and allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out four.
 
Krier had two home runs for WSC, scoring twice and driving in three runs. Jenkins drove in three runs and Dorn scored three times.
 
The Marauders next visit Minnesota Crookston on April 5.
 
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