GAME 1 BOX | GAME 2 BOX

MARSHALL, Minn. - Alex Alvarez tossed a complete game six-hitter to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 5-1 victory over Wayne State in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday.  Wayne State scored five first inning runs in game two and went on to earn a 10-3 victory to earn a split of the twinbill.

The two teams will conclude the four-game series tomorrow at Alumni Field with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.  SMSU is now 21-14 overall, 11-9 NSIC, following today's two games, while WSC is 23-13 overall, 14-8 NSIC.

Alvarez (3-3) recorded his second complete game of the season, racking up five strikeouts, while allowing three walks.

Brian Ness had two hits for SMSU, including drilling a solo home run, his third of the season.  Tyler Flattum added two hits and an RBI for the Mustangs.

SMSU opened the scoring in the second inning as Adam Thygesen reached on a throwing error and following a strikeout, advanced to second on a single by Chris Eichten.  Jon Ellis flied out for the second out of the inning, but Flattum and Jeff Watson came through with back-to-back two-out run-scoring singles to give SMSU a 2-0 lead.

The lead expanded in the third inning, as Jordon Kontz and Ness started the frame with singles.  A fly out and ground out moved the runners up one base, before both came around to score on a fielding error by the Wildcat shortstop to make the score 4-0.

WSC scored its lone run with a sac fly in the fifth, before Ness smacked a home run off the scoreboard in the right field to extend the lead to 5-1.

The SMSU defense turned three double plays in the game, including one in the sixth, before Alvarez retired the Wildcats in order to close out the victory in the seventh.

In game two, WSC took advantage of two SMSU errors in the opening frame to build a 5-0 lead off of Mustang starter Jeremy Schmidt.

The lead moved to 6-0 after three innings, until SMSU trimmed the lead in half in the fourth.  Ness started the rally with a single and advanced to third on a double by Thygesen.  Eichten made the score 6-2 with a two-run single, before later scoring on a sac fly by Ellis to cut the deficit to 6-3.

WSC answered back and put the game away with a single run in the sixth and two more in the seventh, all coming with two outs, to take a 9-3 lead and never looked back.

Schmidt (1-1) tossed the first five innings, allowing six runs, four earned, on nine hits, with four strikeouts and two walks. 

SMSU finished with seven hits in game two, with Thygesen finishing 3-for-4 with a run scored, with Eichten recording two RBIs.