MILROY, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State baseball team used a pair of clutch home runs and solid pitching in game one, while a career-best pitching performance from Cody Wichmann in game two helped the Mustangs earn a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference sweep over Wayne State on Wednesday afternoon at Yankee Field.
 
Jared Cortez belted a tie-breaking solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to give SMSU a 5-4 victory in the opener, while Wichmann—making his first career start—fired seven strong innings to earn his first career victory in a 12-4 win in game two. The SMSU offense was strong in the nightcap as well cracking out 16 hits to rally from an early 3-0 deficit.
 
SMSU improves to 19-10 overall, 14-8 NSIC, and is 6-0 in games played in Milroy as Marshall's Legion Field is wrapping-up offseason field renovations.
 
WSC—which recently won three of four games from both Minnesota Duluth and UMary, drops to 17-14 overall, 13-9 NSIC.
 
In game two, Wichmann struggled to start the game allowing a single, home run, triple, a four-pitch walk and two wild pitches as the Wildcats built a quick 2-0 lead and had runners at second and third with no outs. Wichmann, however, worked out of the jam with two foul pop outs and a line out to right field.
 
WSC pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third with Max Heard lofting a solo home run over the left field fence. Two batters later, WSC's Quinn McCafferty reached on a two-out single, but Wichmann was dominate for next four-plus innings to allow the Mustangs to rally back.
 
The rally started in the home half of the third as Levi Lampert reached via a fielding error before Cortez followed with a two-run home run to left field to cut the deficit to 3-2.
 
SMSU took the lead for good with a two-out rally in the fourth with Henry Hammrich working a two-out walk before Caleb Gardow with hit by a 3-2 pitch. Lampert came through moments later with a clutch two-out, two-run double to put the Mustangs up 4-3.
 
The Mustangs added to the lead in the fifth with a big frame scoring four runs on three hits. Cory Bantam and Evan Behn walked before Owen Latendresse smacked a run-scoring single to plate Bantam, while a fielding error by the left fielder moved runners to second and third. Brock Woitalla stepped to the plate and delivered an RBI single, while another fielding error scored a second run to make the score 7-4. Hammrich stroked another run-scoring hit to plate Woitalla and double the advantage to 8-4.
 
The run support was plenty for Wichmann, who retired 21 of 23 batters he faced from the first through seventh innings.
 
SMSU put the game away in the seventh with Lampert connecting on a two-run home run—his team leading ninth of the season—before Behn stroked a two-out RBI to make the score 11-3.
 
Wichmann walked the leadoff man in the eighth, ending a streak of 13 straight WSC batters retired. Jerod Cyrus allowed a walk and a two-out run-scoring base hit in the eighth, while Austin Dent fired a perfect ninth inning to seal the victory.
 
SMSU's final run came in the eight behind a Woitalla single up the middle to score Latendresse.

Bantam, Behn and Woitalla all finished game two with three hits, while Gardow and Lampert each collected two hits. Lampert had four RBIs in the game, while Cortez and Woitalla finished with two RBIs.
 
Wichmann (1-1) finished tossing seven-plus innings and allowed four runs on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
 
The opener was an intense ballgame with both teams hitting late home runs, but a solo homer from Cortez proved to be the difference in the Mustang come-from-behind victory.
 
Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, SMSU used back-to-back walks from Lampert and Cortez to set the stage for Bantam's three-run blast over the right-center field fence off WSC starting pitcher Kyler Hanson and put the Mustangs up 4-2. SMSU had a chance to add to the lead, loading the bases with one out, but a line out and fielder's choice kept the game a two-run lead.
 
SMSU starting pitcher Jameson Quinn was solid today pitching just 2 1/3 innings in his previous start on Saturday at Concordia-St. Paul. Quinn allowed two unearned runs and no hits through five innings, while racking up five strikeouts and walking two. WSC opened scoring with two unearned runs in the first behind a hit pitch and three SMSU errors.
 
WSC broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the sixth to summoned Cameron Jensen into the game. Following a ground out, WSC's Kaden Young belted an opposite field two-run homer to tie the game at 4-4.
 
The game was not tied for long as Cortez drilled a 1-1 pitch with one out over the left field fence to snap the tie and put SMSU up once again.
 
Jensen (2-0) worked a perfect 1-2-3 top of the seventh to wrap-up the victory. Quinn and
 
SMSU closed the game with eight hits as Bantam and Cortez each finished 3 for 4 with Carter Lang and Latendresse each adding one hit. Behn pushed across SMSU's first run of the game in the first inning on a ground out to plate Cortez.
 
SMSU will now open its 'official' home season this weekend with a three-game series versus Minnesota Crookston at Legion Field. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1:30 p.m. with Sunday's single-game at 12 p.m.