MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State baseball team, ranked 21st in the nation, played host to the Wayne State Wildcats for a pair Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contests on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon. The Mavericks took game one by a score of, 11-4, then fell to the Wildcats, 9-8.

The Wildcats got off to a fast start in game one when senior John Plasha plated two on a double to left field. The wildcats got their third and final run of the inning when sophomore Mike Bisenius scored on a passed ball.

Minnesota State scored in the bottom of the fifth when junior shortstop Zach Rowles hit his second long ball of the season, driving in freshman outfielder Mike Eckhart to cut the lead for the wildcats to one.

In the sixth, Minnesota State tied up the game on a double from junior catcher Aaron Berner, which brought home junior outfielder Danny Miller. The Mavericks captured the lead on sophomore second baseman Matt Kuchenbecker’s single that drove in Berner.

The Wildcats evened it up in the seventh on a junior Nick Bidroski single to right field driving in senior Joe Wendte.

Junior Pat Dockendorf delivered his fourth home run of the season, driving in three while pinch hitting in the pitchers spot. The Mavericks continued their big inning with a RBI single from Eckhart scoring Kuchenbecker. Rowles also drove in sophomore first baseman Matt Odegaard on a fielder’s choice for his third RBI of the contest.

Sophomore right fielder Ben Kincaid and Miller started off the eighth with back to back solo shots to left field. It was their fourth and sixth home runs, respectively.

Junior right-handed pitcher Bret Mitchell improved his record to 8-2. The righty saw seven innings of action, giving up four runs (three earned), while walking three and striking out 11. The 11 strike out contest ties a season-high.

Wayne State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in game two when Bidroski hit a RBI double in the first.

The Mavericks knotted things up in the bottom of the first when senior third baseman Kosuke Hattori drove the ball over the leftfield fence, his second of the season, making the score, 1-1. Hattori’s homerun marks the 18th consecutive game he has gotten a hit.

In the second, Eckhart singled in Odegaard to take possession of the lead for the Mavericks.

After advancing to third base on a wild pitch, Joe Wendte scored on a Kincaid balk in the third inning, evening the score, 2-2.

WSC’s Brandon Polk drove in two on a single to right center field in the fourth and was able to advance to second on a fielding error by center fielder Eckhart. The next batter, Joe Wendte, drove in Polk on a double to right field, making the score 5-2 in favor of the Wildcats.

In the bottom of the fourth, freshman outfielder Kyle Svoboda hustled out a double and Eckhart smashed a two-run bomb to left center, marking his first homer of the season.

In the fifth inning, Bidroski reached first on a fielding error and was advanced three separate times on wild pitches to score the sixth run of the game for the Wildcats. Followed by a Nielson two-run double to cap off the scoring for the inning, giving the Wildcats an 8-4 cushion.

The Mavericks chipped away at the lead in the bottom of the fifth after Hattori scored on a wild pitch, cutting the score to 8-5.

Wayne State scored its ninth run on a Bisenius single to center field in the top of the sixth.

Minnesota State rallied in the seventh scoring three runs, two of which came on Dockendorf’s second pinch hit home run of the day and his fifth of the season, but MSU couldn’t produce the tying run after Dockendorf’s homer making the final, 9-8 in favor of WSC.

With the loss, Kincaid’s record drops to 5-3 on the season after pitching 4 and 2/3 innings and giving up eight runs (four earned) on seven hits. Kincaid walked two and struck out three.

The Mavericks (29-11, 18-6 NSIC) and Wildcats (21-18, 16-7 NSIC) will wrap up the series tomorrow afternoon in Mankato, Minn. with game one of the twinbill slated for 12:00 p.m.

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To view game one stats, click HERE.

To view game two stats, click HERE.

To view season stats, click HERE.