OMAHA, NE – Continuing his early impact with the University of Mary baseball team,
Jesus Payan delivered five hits on the day to headline the Marauders efforts in a pair of Northern Sun losses to Wayne State College. In a doubleheader moved to Omaha, NE, the Wildcats claimed a 5-4 walkoff win in the opener before outscoring the Marauders 12-5 in game two.
A junior right fielder in his first season at UMary, Payan was 5-for-9 on the day with two runs scored, two runs batted in and a stolen base. After opening the day with one hit, he became the first UMary player this season to post four hits in a game, finishing the night cap 4-for-5 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base. A transfer from Cedar Valley Community College, Payan is hitting .451 with a .490 slugging percentage as 12 RBIs, all team highs. His .509 on base percentage and 11 runs scored are second on the squad.
The Marauders jumped out to a fast start on the day, scoring three times in the first inning. A pair of infield singles and a Wildcats throwing error led to the Marauders first run before Payan and
Darius Barlas followed with run-scoring singles.
Wayne State chipped away at the Marauders advantage with a pair of runs in the first and second innings against
Colin Gudereit, who posted shutout innings in the third and fourth innings.
UMary built a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning as
Cody Ghents grounded a run-scoring up the middle to score Barlus, who had led off with a single.
Looking to build a larger advantage, the Marauders had runners on second and third in the sixth inning but couldn't find a way to score. In the seventh,
Jaxon Ford was hit by a pitch and stole second but was stranded following a ground out and two strikeouts.
With UMary's offense silenced, the Wildcats kept scratching away at the Marauders lead, scoring single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game. The Wildcats walked off with the victory in the seventh behind a walk, a single and a pair of errors, the second miscue allowing the winning run to score after one runner was retired at the plate.
The Marauders held an 8-7 edge in hits, led by a perfect 3-for-3 day by Barlas. Five other Marauders also had hits in the game.
Gudereit had a strong appearance on the mound for the Marauders, allowing two earned runs, five hits and two walks with one strikeout in 4.2 innings.
UMary also grabbed a fast lead in game two. Following first inning singles by Ford and Payan and a double steal, Ford scored when
Travis Stevens struck out but had to be thrown out at first base when the catcher couldn't handle the pitch.
Wayne State then exploded for five runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the second. After Ford doubled and scored on a Payan single in the top of the third, the Wildcats posted three more runs in the bottom of the inning to build a 10-2 lead.
Unable to do much against Wayne State's Hunter Weinhoff, who struck out 11 Marauders in six innings, UMary managed to score three runs off his replacement in the seventh inning.
Chris Scott and
Mason Huntley sandwiched run-scoring singles around an RBI groundout by
Cody Fourre to close within 11-5. UMary (2-12 overall, 0-4 NSIC) only managed a hit and a walk combined the next two innings as Wayne State (6-8, 4-0) completed a weekend sweep.
Ford finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Will Pettener came off the bench and was 3-for-4 with a run scored.
Wayne State outhit UMary 14-13. Jake Lorenzini had three hits and scored three times. Bryce Bisenius had two hits and four RBIs.
The Marauders next visit Upper Iowa University with four games scheduled for March 24-25 in Fayette, IA, before a midweek doubleheader at the University of Minnesota Duluth on March 27.
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