WAYNE, NE – Continuing his impressive power surge, University of Mary senior Darius Barlas hit two home runs and drove in four runs as the Marauders pushed homestanding Wayne State College to the brink but fell just short of victory in a pair of narrow Northern Sun losses to the Wildcats. The Marauders had the winning run on base in a 5-2 loss in the opener and the Wildcats posted a 7-6 walkoff win in the nightcap.
 
GAME 1 Wayne State 5 UMary 2
Scoring in three straight innings – including three times in the third inning – carried Wayne State College (16-7 overall, 7-3 NSIC) past the visiting University of Mary (8-14, 4-6). The Marauders both opened and closed the scoring but were limited to five hits in the game.
 
PIVOT POINT
Tied 1-1 after the Marauders were unable to take advantage of two walks to start the third inning, Bryce Bisenius cracked a three-run home run in the bottom of the third to give the Wildcats a 4-1 lead. WSC pitchers then limited the Marauders to just two baserunners over the next here innings.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Charles Bielejeski pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out two while allowing one hit and two walks
• Fr. OF Jaxon Kostka was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base
• Jaxon Ford finished 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and a steal from the leadoff slot
• Darius Barlas went 1-for-3 with an RBI. He was also hit by a pitch.
• Connor Doll walked three times in the game

 
STAT OF THE GAME
The Marauders placed the tying run on base in the seventh inning before stranding all three runners. For the game UMary left eight on base.
 
GAME 2 Wayne State College 7 University of Mary 6
In a heartbreaking loss, the Marauders battled back to tie the game three separate times but never could manage to take the lead in a 7-6 loss to the Wildcats. UMary pulled even in the fourth, eighth and ninth innings, only to see Wayne State immediately tie the game or retake the lead.
 
PIVOT POINT
Down 6-5 in the ninth and Daulton Sauce on second after a double to center, freshman catcher William Kranz hit a 2-out 1-2 pitch to center to score the Marauders senior first baseman to even the game. The Marauders hopes of forcing extra innings quickly faded. The Wildcats leadoff batter reached base after he was hit by a pitch and a pinch runner took third on a pair of wild pitches. The Marauders intentionally walked the next two hitters to fill the bases. Relief pitcher Chris Scott followed with a strikeout for the first out of the inning before Jake Lemar singles home the winning run to left center field.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Darius Barlas slugged two home runs – his team-leading fifth and sixth of the season - and was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs
• Jesus Payan doubled twice and drove in a run
• Daulton Sauce hit two doubles and scored twice
• Connor Doll registered two hits and scored a run
• Chris Scott hit a double and scored a run
• Both Travis Stevens and William Kranz had one hit and an RBI
• Quentin Evers struck out three hitters in 1.1 innings of work
• Wayne State's Travis Miller was 3-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored and three RBIs

 
STAT OF THE GAME
The Marauders set single-game season highs in doubles (5) and home runs (2).
 
NEXT UP
After opening the Northern Sun schedule with 11 games on the road, the Marauders are set to host Concordia-St. Paul on Wednesday, April 3.
 
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