DETROIT, Mich. - The quest for a third straight GLIAC championship ended on Saturday as Wayne State swept a doubleheader against the Panthers at Harwell Field. The 12th-ranked Warriors won their first league title since 2010 by rebounding from yesterday's 16-5 loss which moved Davenport within one game. WSU took game one 3-0 and clinched the outright championship with a 7-4 win in game two.

Any momentum from yesterday was halted by Karter Fitzpatrick. The Wayne State pitcher improved to a league-leading 9-1 on the mound this season and shut out the Panthers for the first time all season. The scattered six hits in seven innings and DU left five runners on base. Davenport left two runners on base in just one inning which came in the second. Tyler Mosher had a one-out single and Carson Price had a two-out double but Mosher was held at third.

Fitzpatrick really thrived in the final three innings allowing just one hit and struck out five straight batters in the sixth and seventh innings. He finished with just one walk and nine strikeouts and needed just 79 pitches to earn his ninth win. James Kohl had a strong outing himself and threw six innings. He allowed five hits and two earned runs with two walks and one strikeout.

Rudy Ramirez had a RBI single in the first. Chris Tanderys had a RBI groundout in the fourth. Noah Miller had a sacrifice fly also in the fourth for the scoring plays for Wayne State. Coltrane Rubner finished 2-for-3 at the plate for the Panthers and Khale Showers had a double in three at-bats.

DU handed the ball to freshman Tyler McKinstry in game two to keep them in the title hunt. The Panthers got off to a good start with a run in the first. Showers had a RBI single through the left side to score Rubner. McKinstry was not helped out early in the bottom of the first as Ryan Foley reached on an error by Ben Mets at shortstop. Hunter DeLanoy then walked on five pitches and Ramirez blasted a three-run homer to left for a 3-1 lead. Tanderys made it back-to-back homers also to left and the Warriors led 4-1 after one inning.

The Panthers got a run back in the top of the second as Josh Robinson doubled to start the inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Tchavdarov. The Warriors regained their three-run lead in the bottom of the second as Foley was hit by a pitch with one out followed by a DeLanoy single to move Foley to third. Ramirez had his fourth RBI with a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 advantage.

McKinstry was lifted in the third inning for Alex Lord, but he too could not put up a zero. Errors were a major issue for DU in game two with four and CJ Maury reached on one to start the third. He scored later on a RBI grounder from Tony Hatzigeorgiou. 

WSU increased their lead to 7-2 in the fifth and then Mets hit a home run to left center to make it 7-3. Robinson followed later in the inning with a RBI single to center to conclude the scoring. Brennan Cox came on to get the final out in the eighth and then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save of the season. Seth Marano (6-1) got the start for WSU and tossed 7.2 innings. He did surrender 11 hits but walked none with nine strikeouts.

Lord and Jack Snow both threw three innings in relief. Snow was excellent allowing just one hit and no runs with two strikeouts. Mets finished 2-for-4 and Robinson went 2-for-4 with a double. Caleb Anspaugh also got the start at catcher and went 2-for-4 with a double.

The teams will conclude the regular season tomorrow at 1 PM and then DU (26-23, 20-9 GLIAC) will prepare for the GLIAC Tournament to be held in Lansing, Mich. beginning Thursday, May 11.

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