Batistatos Shines; Purdue Northwest Baseball Drops Series Finale to Wayne State, 3-2
Hammond, Ind. – Sophomore Alex Batistatos (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, but the Purdue Northwest baseball team fell just short in its final Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) series game with Wayne State University (Mich.) Sunday afternoon losing 3-2 at Albert’s Diamond Jewelers Field at Dowling Park in Hammond, Ind. The Pride had a chance to tie or win the game with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the ninth, but the Warriors got the final two outs on a strikeout and a fly-out to left field to take three of the four games in the series.
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WSU got off to a fast start Sunday scoring two runs on a pair of RBI singles in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. A RBI double down the right field line in the top of the third inning extended Wayne State’s edge to 3-0. In the bottom of the fourth, Batistatos hit a two-out RBI single to right field to put PNW on the scoreboard, 3-1.
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Batistatos came up big again in the bottom of the sixth with another two-out RBI single to right field to pull the Pride within a run, 3-2. Purdue Northwest had its chances putting a runner at second base with one out in the bottom of the seventh and again in the ninth, but could not get the timely hit to tie the game. In addition to Batistatos, senior Jacob Lane (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) also recorded two hits for the Pride.
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Freshman Kyle Freel (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central) pitched well as the starter for PNW Sunday, but suffered his third loss of the season (2-3). Freel threw eight innings and allowed seven hits, three runs (all earned) and two walks with seven strikeouts. Freshman Brandon Haczynski (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) pitched the final inning for the Pride allowing just a walk.
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Purdue Northwest (10-13 overall/3-9 GLIAC) heads up to University Center, Mich., next weekend for a four-game GLIAC series with Saginaw Valley State University (Mich.). The first game is scheduled for nine innings and begins on Friday, April 13, at 3 p.m. CT at the SVSU Baseball Complex.