WAYNE, Neb. – The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team concluded its three-game conference opening weekend on Sunday afternoon suffering a 14-4 loss to Wayne State College at the Pete Chapman Complex
 
WSC, which rallied late to defeat SMSU twice on Saturday, collected 16 hits and took advantage of six walks and three hit batters by seven Mustang pitchers to complete the three-game sweep.
 
The Wildcats (9-7, 3-0 NSIC) opened a 6-0 lead with a five-run second inning and put the game away with three runs in both the third and fourth innings.
 
Hayden Molva (0-2) suffered the loss on the mound for the Mustangs lasting 1 1/3 innings and allowing six runs on five hits.
 
SMSU (7-8, 0-3 NSIC) trailed 6-0 in the third before finally breaking through with its first run of the game. Chase McDaniel worked a one-out walk and was followed by a hit by pitch to Jaxon Haase and a single by Isaac Nett to load the bases. Max Kalenberg singled to drive home McDaniel, but a strikeout and lineout ended a chance to cut more into the WSC lead.
 
Trailing 12-1 in the fifth, SMSU's Kip Gronholz belted a pinch-hit home run, but WSC answered back with a two-run homer in the home half of the inning to build a 14-2 advantage.
 
SMSU put together a rally in the seventh to attempt to extend the game as Jackson Bates lead-off the frame with a pinch-hit double and scored on a Haase run-scoring single. Following a walk to Nett and single by Gronholz loaded the bases, Nick Brown singled to right field to make the score 14-4. That was as close as the Mustangs would come however, as three straight strikeouts ended the inning and the game.
 
The Mustang offense finished the game with nine hits and walked five times but couldn't come through with enough timely hits leaving 10 runners on base. SMSU closed the three-game series leaving 21 runners on base.
 
Gronholz finished with two hits on Sunday with Bates, Haase, Nett, Kalenberg, Brown, Trey Runge and Peyton Nash all collecting one hit.
 
SMSU continues NSIC road play on Wednesday with a doubleheader versus Upper Iowa University in Fayette starting at 1:30 p.m.