Eastern Wayne Today

The Wayne State University baseball team faced a setback in the opening game of the 2024 GLIAC Tournament, losing to Davenport University with a score of 11-2. The match took place on Thursday night, where Wayne State, seeded third and holding an overall record of 29-20, was defeated by fourth-seeded Davenport, which has an overall record of 19-32.

Davenport's victory improved their standing to 18-13 in the all-time series against Wayne State and marked their third win over Wayne State in GLIAC Tournament history. During the game, Davenport scored consistently throughout various innings: two runs in the first inning, one run in the third, two runs each in the fifth and sixth innings, and four more runs in the seventh inning. Wayne State managed to score only two runs during their home half of the first inning.

In that initial inning for Wayne State, Owen Tuccinardi from Ann Arbor facilitated a fielder's choice allowing Drew Hill from Grosse Pointe Woods to score. Mason McGuire from Lyon Township also scored due to a throwing error by Davenport's shortstop during an attempted double play.

Karter Fitzpatrick from Monroe was credited with the loss for Wayne State. Over 6.1 innings pitched, Fitzpatrick allowed nine earned runs on twelve hits while issuing two walks and striking out seven batters on 133 pitches. Relief pitchers Cam Rosen from Ann Arbor contributed two-thirds of an inning with two earned runs on three hits; David Thurman from Southfield threw one inning allowing just one hit; TJ McAllister from St. Clair Shores pitched the final frame permitting two hits with one strikeout.

Wayne State now faces elimination as they prepare to play top-seeded Saginaw Valley State on Friday at 3 p.m., a team ranked 16th nationally with a record of 37-13 overall. Saginaw Valley has won four out of six games against Wayne State this season and recently defeated Purdue Northwest decisively with an 18-4 victory.